


The Garden

by Sam_ismybae



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BDSM, Canon Compliant, Eden Club (Detroit: Become Human), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Gavin Reed Has ADHD, M/M, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Slow Burn, Undercover, ahaha...I couldn't help myself, bdsm club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:40:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 62,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28518027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam_ismybae/pseuds/Sam_ismybae
Summary: A mysterious and brutal murder of a missing android has Gavin Reed and the new RK900 unit (unfortunately) working together to find the perpetrator. Sworn enemies who must go undercover to dig up secrets of a big-time club owner leads to more than either of them could have predicted.
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 74
Kudos: 81





	1. [Mission: Keep Gavin Reed in Check]

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first ever fic! I am a long time DBH fan, but recently decided to try my hand at crafting this piece. If you are looking for a long slow burn and some good angst that leads to a happy ending, you're in the right place. Please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments! See you on the other side :)

Feb 23, 2039  
[ **Systems: Online** ]  
[ **Time: 8:00AM EST, 23 February 2039** ]  
[ **Good Morning, RK900** ]  
[ **Awaiting Instruction** ]

The RK900 model blinks away the notifications, hands clasped behind its back and slowly analyzing its surroundings. A glossy, well-worn desk sits in front of it, with a balding, broad black man typing away on a computer, leg bouncing beneath the desk. Behind the man a couple of filing cabinets, at least 20 years of age, are stuffed to the brim and lit by the blue glow of the android’s LED. Random accessories and memorabilia clutter the desk and filing cabinets, trash overflowing onto the surrounding floor. RK900 notes that this office is untraditional, walls made entirely of glass, giving a view towards a bullpen of desks and various employees. RK900’s attention is caught on a pair of employees laughing jovially, in what appeared to be a breakroom dimly lit by the glow of a television broadcasting the local news.

A cough in front of him recaptures the android’s eyes. Although the man at the desk has not noticed RK900’s consciousness, he has stopped typing and is resting a hand on his chin as he condescendingly watches the men in the breakroom double over in laughter. Abruptly, the man scoots back his chair and stands, determinedly heading for the glass door but stops at the sight of RK900’s gaze. 

“Fuck, shit. You scared the shit outta me,” the man huffs, a tight laugh escaping his lips as bends over to collect himself. A facial scan determines this man is Captain Jeffrey Fowler of the Detroit Police Department, age 56, with an extensive military history and earned accreditation. 

“Apologies, Captain. That was not my intention,” the android responds stoically.

The captain rakes his gaze over the android once, before frowning and turning back to the door.

“REED! My office, now!” Fowler yells, before trampling back to his desk and sitting down, a sigh ruminating the office. “Sorry about this,” he states, eyes holding a piteous look as he half smiles at the android. Before RK900 can respond, one of the men from the breakroom, presumably Reed, bursts through the office door. An out of breath Reed asks, “Cap, you wanted to see me?”

“Sit. This ain’t gonna be easy,” barks Fowler, his hands pretending to type something on the computer to seem busy. The man carefully lowers himself into a low armchair in front of the desk, suspicious gaze never leaving the captain. Fowler has his attention on the computer but RK900 ascertains he is not performing any documentation, just making his appearance look busy, perhaps to make Reed more uncomfortable for wasting his time. The android’s attention is instead on Reed, who is feigning a casual look around the office and out towards the bull pen, though the wiping of perspiration from his hands to his jeans gives away his anxieties.

Fowler clears his throat and both the human and android’s focus is back on the man behind the desk. “Reed. I’m giving you a new assignment.” Reed sits fully upright from his previous lounging position, visibly excited. “You’ll be investigating the death of an android reported by her neighbor this morning. It’s gruesome, but you’re the best detective we’ve got for this.”

A heavy huff escapes from Reed, running a hand down his face, once again looking out toward the sea of desks. “You know how I feel about that shit Jeff,” Reed tosses out, shoulders slumped.

“Don’t _Jeff_ me, Reed. You wanted a new case to make up for your last one, and this is what we got,” Fowler spits, an antagonizing glare sent towards the detective. “Or need I remind you of your extensive disciplinary file that takes up one of these damn cabinets?” He muses with a hand vaguely pointing to the files behind the desk. Reed turns his attention back towards the captain, the excitement gone from his eyes, shaking his head in a small motion that would have gone unnoticed if the captain hadn’t been looking for it. “Good. Now shut the hell up and lemme say what I gotta say.”  


Reed’s eyes are now pointed towards the floor; not unlike an ashamed child, RK900 decides. The captain clasps his hands and addresses the assignment. “As I was saying earlier, we’ve got an android death. Don’t know much about the model or ID yet since the body is so mangled up. Officers were called in this morning around 7 by a frantic neighbor who said she hasn’t seen the girl for a few days and got worried. Now you,” he pauses, both pointer fingers directed at Reed with an accompanying glare, “are going to go to the scene and get enough info to catch this perp. We need the best on this Reed.” The captain waits, but Reed’s eyes never leave the floor in front of the bulky desk. Fowler sighs loudly and places his head between his hands face down. 

A ‘phckin’ whatever’ can be heard from the armchair as Reed leans back and throws his head back in anguish. The captain lifts his face, and finally addresses the elephant in the room. “You and your partner have one week to give me a perp on this Reed. I will not be let down again.”

Reed’s head snaps up, eyes full of anger. “Wait, what the phck! You know I don’t do partners! I barely agreed to do this damn case, now I gotta account for someone else? Phck no!” He shouts, shaking his head and pushing his hair back as he leans towards Fowler’s desk. 

Fowler is quick to cut him off. “You’ll do this damn case and you will comply with your partner, or I’ll have that damn badge right now,” an icy stare accompanying his open hand, intent clear.

An intense staring match ensues, only to be broken by Reed’s surrender as he scratches at his forehead and petulantly digs, “Is it at least someone tolerable? Phck, I know Chris can’t go back into the field with that damn baby now. Is it T? God, please let it be T.” He holds hands in a mock prayer and face tilted towards the ceiling, in a crude face of begging. RK900 concludes Reed is a whiny bitch, and if it had emotions, would classify him as annoying.

Fowler pauses for a second, allowing Reed to continue his dramatic act, but clearly looks a bit nervous. His eyes dart between RK900 and Reed before he settles on admitting the truth. “No, it’s not Chen. It’s uh,” his eyes slowly move to the RK900 android entirely, “He’s right here.”

Reed brings his face back to Fowler, a frown donning his [annoying] expression, but quickly turns to find whatever the captain is looking at. “Oh PHCK NO. This is definitely a phckin’ joke,” Reed says, eyes raking the android’s body in a dismissive gesture before huffing a snicker and rising from his chair into an exaggerated stretch. His laugh is cut short at a glance back to Fowler, who hasn’t moved. “Wait, are you phckin’ serious? This thing? Phckin’ terminator lookin’ ass?” Reed strains, eyes hurriedly moving between the pair, a tight laugh dying on his lips. Fowler fixes him a concentrated stare, and Reed slips back down to the ratty armchair beneath him. “I’m not phckin’ doing that Cap. I’m not gonna work with this phcker breathing down my neck ready to snap me at any second. You know how I phckin’ feel about them!” He practically whines, eyes pleading for something he won’t get. “Why can’t you send Hank and his plastic pet? They basically specialize in this shit!”

Fowler’s determined look never fades, and eventually he addresses Reed’s attitude. “You know they are out on that red ice cases right now, too busy for all android death cases,” followed by a heavy sigh and a thick eyeroll. “I _know_ you’re the best detective I got, and a damn good one at that. You know this is a different world now. For the love of god Reed, just shut the fuck up and do your damn job. I don’t fuckin’ care how you feel at home, but here you are impartial to both android and human rights on my clock.” 

Reed starts a rebuttal but is swiftly intervened by Fowler’s rough growl.

“Him,” he points to RK900, “or your badge. Now.”

“You aren’t phckin’ serious right now. You know how I feel Jeff. I can’t trust that damn thing!” Reed pleads, his hands desperately gesturing to the android in the corner. Fowler extends one hand palm up expectantly. A final despairing look from Reed is met by an unemotional response from the captain.

“Phckin’ fine. But don’t expect me to like it,” Reed irritably concedes. Fowler closes his extended hand and interlocks his fingers once again, now satisfied.

“I already sent you the address and case file to your terminal. You were probably a bit busy this morning to notice,” Fowler states with a knowing glare. RK900 notes Reed’s heartrate increases, a light red dusting his cheeks as he looks away. “Go to the address. Get the shit you need and get out. A perp,” He recaptures Reed’s attention, “by the end of the week. You’re dismissed.” Fowler pushes his hands away from himself as if to blow Reed away and returns to his computer, mindlessly typing away to terminate the conversation or, more likely, any response. Reed gets up from the armchair as if in a daze and makes his way towards the door. 

**[Mission: Find Perpetrator]**

“And Gavin?” Fowler softly calls, just as Reed reaches for the handle. Reed turns back towards the captain, a lost look on his face.

“Play nice. He’s expensive and I don’t mind taking it out of your paycheck.” Fowler smirks before training his gaze back to the computer to type away endlessly.

Gavin hesitates before finally grabbing the handle and rushing down the steps of the office back in the vague direction of his desk. The android gives the captain a tight nod, before following in his partner’s footsteps. Fowler’s voice sympathetically beckons it one last time. “I really am sorry by the way. I know he’ll be a lot to handle and then some. Just…” the captain seems to be at a loss for words.

“Just give him some time. I know he’s an ass, but he can truly be a good asset for this case. Feel free to keep him in check.” Fowler gives a forced chuckle before disregarding the android entirely.

**[Side Mission: Keep Gavin Reed In Check]**

RK900 makes for the door once again, descending the steps in a calculated manner. It scans the bullpen floor, attempting to find Reed or his desk. It makes its way down the middle, turning to the right and standing in front of Gavin’s desk. Reed has his feet up on the desk, scrolling on his phone with one hand while the other picks at a loose thread of his jeans and pointedly ignoring the android standing directly in front of him.

The android runs a facial scan of the man in front of him. Gavin Reed, aged 36, widely known for his rude composure and android hate, with an opposing impressive career that led him to be a detective. He also has a large disciplinary file, many offenses include failure to arrive on time, inappropriate gestures and conversations with coworkers, and most notably, prolonged smoke breaks. The ashtray on Reed’s desk is full of spent cigarettes, all of which are a cheap brand and a violation of DPD guidelines.

“Detective,” RK900 starts, but is interrupted by Reed taking his feet off the desk with a purposeful swing and turning to face away from the android. RK900 would roll its eyes if it was in the protocol. Perhaps it should be for dealing with one Gavin Reed.

“Detective. The officers at the scene are awaiting our arrival. We need to go to the crime scene and investigate as soon as possible to avoid the degradation of evidence.”

“Yeah well they can suck my ass,” Gavin mutters, a forced laugh pretending to cut through the tension.

“Detective. I must insist. The mission is my top priority and I will not let anything stand in the way of completing it,” the android states, indifferent as ever.

“ _Detective_ this, _Detective_ that, god do you ever shut the phck up? Mind yo’ business David,” Reed laughs to himself. He pauses to contemplate, then turns around to face his new partner and sizes him up. “Hey dipshit, get me a coffee.” RK900 makes no move to complete the order, expression blank. 

“Did you phckin’ hear me? I said get me a damn coffee. If you want to go to the damn scene so bad, I’ll need this first,” Gavin raises his voice, alerting surrounding desks to the interaction. The android turns on its heel and heads towards the breakroom to pour its partner a drink, ignoring the ‘phckin’ androids’ mumbled behind its back.

A side-step into the bleak breakroom amounts to nothing extraordinary. There are a few round tables accompanied by chairs near the wall, a coffee maker and Styrofoam cups decorating the vacant counter. A television hangs on the wall. The trash beneath is largely filled with used cups and lids, napkins, creamer cups and sugar packets, and an empty donut box. Stereotypical. RK900 approaches the coffee maker and pours the premade coffee into the closest clean cup. Its sensors determine the temperature is 82° C; cold enough for consumption but hot enough to scald at long exposure, the system concludes.

Upon the return to the desk, Gavin looks up from his phone, attention now on the steaming cup of coffee in front of him. “Phck, I didn’t think you would do it, Connor told me to phck off the first time I asked him,” he says, almost to himself. His hands reach out toward the cup in RK900’s hands, but miss as the android turns the cup upside down onto Detective Reed’s lap. Varying shouts of curses are launched in its direction, adding to the label decisively.

**[Gavin Reed: Asshole]**

After determining the detective has sufficed large areas of first-degree burns, it turns and places the now empty cup into the trash bin beside the desk. 

The android stands erect, condescendingly watching Gavin attempt to wipe off the soiled jeans. 

“We’ve an assignment, _Detective_ , so I suggest heading to the locker rooms for new pants before we leave. I’ll be waiting at the car.” The android stalks off without another word, leaving the detective and his open mouth in the dirt with his jeans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know I had to do a coffee scene. Stay tuned for more unresolved tension ;)


	2. Gavin's Dramatic Ass Could Never

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long-ass car ride and arrival on scene only increases the tension between our two favorite investigators.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to post updates to this work every Wednesday and Saturday to keep a consistent schedule. This chapter might not be the longest, but the tension build up and the next chapters are filled with good suspense to keep you on your toes. Enjoy!

The silence is stifling in the small, navy car as it chugs through the thick snow of southern Michigan. From the outside, other drivers and passengers would never know the tension on Gavin Reed’s face was anything other than normal road rage. RK900 uses the quiet to analyze the vehicle. A 2029 Toyota Corolla, well-used, previously owned by Gavin’s father until his passing in 2035. Garbage fills the remaining back seats and the legroom of the passenger’s side; various take out boxes, fast food cups, wrappers, and uneaten food trash the floor and even the cupholders. The android’s olfactory sensors determine a stench is emanating throughout the interior but doesn’t seem to be affecting the detective as he drives.

“Phck,” Reed breathes out, taking his white-knuckled grip off the wheel and running his left hand through his hair and moving his right to the six position. RK900’s gaze moves to Reed who is clearly on edge.

“Detective?” the android inquires open-endedly.

Gavin anxiously glances over at RK900, quickly averting his eyes when they meet. His left hand now plays with the strings of his sweatshirt beneath the leather jacket to keep his hands busy while he contemplates what to say. A yellow ring sails around RK900’s LED as Reed sighs, attempting to fill the silence.

“So tin can,” Gavin throws out, clearing his throat as his attempt to play cool fails miserably, “what’re we headed to?”

“RK900 is just fine, Detective,” the android asserts, its expression stern like scolding an unruly child.

“The phck? I’m not phckin’ callin’ you that,” Gavin recoils like it offends him personally. “You got a name or some shit, or do I gotta call you by your serial number like a phckin’ computer?” His short laugh does little to hide his uncomfortable appearance.

“RK900 is just fine, _Detective_.” The android replies, enunciating the rank as though it were a disgusting word dripped from its orifice.

“Yeah okay. Phck that. I’m not spelling out ‘nine-oh-oh’ every time we gotta talk or some shit. Can’t you like, pick a name to make it easier or somethin’?” He risks a glance over at the android but there is no response. “Nothin’? Not even, what, like niner-niner? Ha, I’m phckin’ funny.”

The android’s gaze is once again taken to the road, leaving Reed to laugh at his own jokes in his lonesome. The snow has slowed, lightly topping the large mounds on the sidewalks on either side of the road but barely sticking to the asphalt beneath them. RK900 turns his auditory processors off to ignore any rambling Gavin makes for the rest of the ride.

It takes Gavin a few minutes to realize the android isn’t listening to his hilarious jokes and he waves a hand in front of RK900’s face to refocus its attention to him. RK900 turns its audio processors back on, regretfully it thinks, to address the tiny man sitting at the wheel.

“Detective?”

Donning a defeated expression, Gavin spits, “So are you gonna tell me or just keep all the case secrets to yourself?”

“Sure, Detective,” RK900 purrs, eyebrows raised. It recites: “The body was reported this morning at 7:14AM, by the next-door neighbor that hadn’t seen it for several days. The neighbor usually greeted the android each morning as she gathered the paper but reported she hadn’t seen it lately. When she rang the bell and there was no answer, she peeked through the front window and found the disturbed body, then rushed home to call police. Officers secured the scene and are awaiting our arrival,” the LED’s yellow glow coloring the window as it recalls the case facts before returning to its natural blue.

Gavin huffs, chewing on his fingernails absentmindedly. “Serves it right, phckin’ android. Act like a human, get treated like one.”

RK900 spares Reed a condescending glance but doesn’t fall for the bait. The remainder of the ride is spent quietly, music from the radio a low hum and Gavin lost in thought. As they reach the outskirts of town, the houses spread out, making it easier to spot the secured crime scene.

“I phckin’ hate on-lookers,” Gavin mutters as he steers the car to an adjacent block, parallel parking terribly like a child who stole his mother’s car. As soon as Reed stops the car, the android gets out, slamming the door as it approaches the commotion. The android almost wishes it had kept its auditory processing off, so it didn’t have to hear Reed’s whining ‘ _oh, you’re phckin’ welcome for the ride_ ’ as it walks away. Almost wishes, since it doesn’t have desires.

A hush falls on the sea of spectators as RK900 strides through the crowd to acknowledge the officer on scene, stepping through the police tape with authority.

The small female officer watches the android approach and greets him cheerfully. “Hey, are you that new special fighting android that Cap said was coming? Like 900 or something?” She meets his eyes with a joyful grin, eyes looking over its body. “Holy shit, you look just like Connor. Only, like, taller, and broader,” her eyes mesmerized by the view. “Oh god, that’s so embarrassing, it says your model right there,” she tightly laughs; a flush rises to her cheeks in what RK900 identifies as humiliation. It decides it would like her, if it could like things. 

A facial scan reveals the officer is Tina Chen, a 35-year-old officer with top marks in her academy training and a clean record, unlike her classmate Gavin Reed.

Gavin eventually makes his way to the pair looking disgruntled as ever, taking a long drag from a cig and a bare hand despite the bone-chilling weather. A bright Tina watches him stagger in their general direction and finally makes the connection. “You?” She asks the android, a mischievous smile creeping onto her face, “With him?” It doesn’t need to respond for her eyebrows to shoot through her forehead in profound pleasure. Reed is oblivious to her eager expression as he hauls himself closer to the pair. “Oh god, this is fucking perfect,” she practically giggles. As soon Gavin crosses the tape, she pounces on him.

“GAV! So good to see you again!” she smirks to the side as she wraps her little arms around the confused detective’s chest.

“Yo, T, what the phck,” Gavin looks down at her, attempting to move the cigarette out of reach, whether to not burn her or keep her from snagging it is unknown. He peels her off, eyes roaming her body apparently to check her vitals.

“Is it true Gav? You’ve got a new _partner_?” She emphasizes, suggestively wagging her eyebrows.

“Oh god, _please_ phck off. You know how I feel about ‘droids. Don’t do this to me so early, T,” Gavin rolls his eyes, stepping back to look around the scene and to the gathered crowd just out of reach with a long pull of his lungs. He blows the smoke directly upwards, taking his attention to the sky and the lightly falling snow.

“But he’s totally your type, babe!” She steps forward to elbow him. His shocked denial catches in his throat, causing him to double over as he coughs. Tina cackles while he tries to gain composure. Gavin risks a glance at the android before dropping his voice in a pleading manner and pulling her away from ear shot, though the android has no trouble discerning his next words.

“T, it’s a _machine_ and literally no it’s not. I’m just forced to work with robocop for this investigation and then it can go back to whatever the phck androids do nowadays. God,” He forces out in a hush, shaking his head and pointedly looking anywhere but RK900’s direction, ensuring the crowd can’t hear her loud claims.

“Gav, _literally_ yes he totally is. You can’t fool me with this whatever stupid ‘bravado-macho’ thing you’re playing at. I’m not stupid,” she muses at her normal volume, with little air quotes and a knowing smirk.

Reed’s response is an elevated heart rate and a red color rising to his cheeks, looking away from her and pretending to ignore the conversation entirely.

“I knew it!” She laughs, lightly punching him in the stomach, the cheer evident on her face. “I know you better than you know yourself, asshole.”

[ **Gavin Reed: Embarrassed** ]

“Phck off T,” he tosses, without heat behind the words, a small smile playing on his lips as he shakes his head. A glance to the sea of people behind them proves no one has heard their conversation. “Whatever, go run in front of a bus or something. I’m going to do some real investigating now, if you’re all done playing detective,” a slight chuckle on his face accompanying his pink cheeks.

She dramatically gasps and winks with a final, “A bus? Without you behind the wheel? I could never.” Tina folds her hands over her heart before Reed brushes past her towards the mangled corpse of the android he has yet to examine.

[ **Gavin and Tina Are Close Friends** ]

She watches him walk to the house at an exaggerated pace, probably attempting to run away from the conversation as fast as his legs could carry him. She huffs a laugh as he goes through the front door, leaving it falling behind him. Suddenly she remembers RK900 is to her right, and turns to meet its eyes.

“Oh shit, I forgot you were right there. I was having too much fun berating him.” With a grin, she tilts her head back towards the house. “I’d say go easy on him, but you don’t look the type _and_ he’s a little bitch, so do what you gotta do, cap,” she remarks with a mock salute and coy smile.

RK900 smiles, almost a genuine reaction, if it could have one. “Don’t worry, Officer Chen. The coffee spill to Gavin’s groin this morning was nothing short of following my mission.”

Tina startles, looking over at the android with an amused expression. “Wait, dead ass? You dumped a coffee on him? That is so fucking funny, I shoulda been there. Wish I had pics,” her laugh turning to a sigh.

The LED on RK900’s temple circles a yellow cycle as a ping chimes out. She pulls out her phone to check the notification. The images of Gavin covered in the spilt drink and frantically cleaning it off arrive in a text message. “Oh no fucking way, this is too good! You mind if I post these?” She asks, excitement drawing her enthusiastic eyes to the android’s face.

“They are all yours, Officer Chen,” RK900 smirks with a small bow of the head. Almost smirks.

“On god these are the funniest photos. God, he totally deserved that. Thanks for uh, keeping him in check,” She winks, sticking her tongue out.

A nod and any response from RK900 is cut short by Gavin’s incessant whining from the door of the murder scene.

“Yo, Nines, the phck is takin’ so long? Get your ass in here and do your thing!”

“God, he can be so needy,” she shakes her head. “Good luck out there, champ,” she giggles with a light clasp on the shoulder. RK900 turns to Officer Chen before they share a knowing smile and it approaches the crime scene. Tina exchanges a wave as it pulls the door open to the brutal site of the destroyed corpse inside.

[ **Name Registered: Nines** ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, Tina is def best girl. Also stay tuned to watch me abuse my new power to italicize words on ao3.
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated! :)


	3. All The Forensics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The android and detective are on a mission to discover any clues left by the perpetrator on scene - what is there to find and what mysteries does this crime hold?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! If you didn't know, I am actually a Forensic Scientist with a concentration in Forensic DNA analysis. That means all of the evidence and analyses you find in this chapter - and beyond - are all factual! I am trained in trace evidence, hand writing analysis, blood spatter patterns, as well as ethics. At the end of the chapter, there are some notes on words or phrases that might be uncommon, so if you are wondering what something means, feel free to check out the list at the end or read it when you finish the chapter (I would recommend checking it out even if you do think you know them, there might be some cool information you could learn!). See you on the other side! :)

The door in hand shows no signs of damage, indicating anyone who entered had a key to the dead bolt or was let in by someone on the inside. Releasing the handle and crossing the threshold into the old, rural home, RK900 notices the different, more somber attitude of the investigators on scene. The house is eerily silent, the only noise on the immediate left where a reporting officer is briefing the forensic team fully dressed in Tyvek suits, some nodding along to the speaker as he details the crime. In front of the android stands the bathroom door, roped off in an effort to preserve footprints possibly left by the perpetrator. And to the right, an open space leads to a quaint, but outdated living room, walls decorated only by a few simple picture frames – many cracked but all of the same human female. 

On the floor tucked into the bottom of the dilapidated sofa is a badly disfigured female android. The extremities have all been manually pulled from the torso, leaving jagged plastic edges and frayed wires in its wake. The blood spatter pattern is extreme; a pool of thirium surrounds the body, simulated blood coats the floor, the sofa, the adjacent wall and even the ceiling, all naked to the human eye. Detective Gavin Reed stands over the corpse unbeknownst to the thirium calamity, the cognitive expression on his face void of any emotion.

Gavin senses the incoming android and fleetingly moves to examine the adjoining kitchen and bedroom, leaving RK900 to discern the cause of the trauma inflicted on the body in front of it alone. It leans down, one knee almost touching the floor, and scans the victim’s remnants for any clues. The head is beneath the limbs, indicating that the perpetrator likely knew the victim and hid the face to deflect guilt. Touching two fingers to the dried thirium, it generates a sterile wet swab to collect the blood evidence. RK900 moves the fingers to its mouth, licking a clean swipe of the phalanges and analyzing the sample. A stumbling of footsteps from the kitchen brings up the android’s attention.

“Nines did yo- wait what the phck are you doing?” Reed asks, a bewildered and horrified expression fixed to his face. “That’s phckin’ disgusting!”

RK900 glances up at the detective and continues to lick the sample, flicking a perky tongue sharply as it finishes. Reed’s pupils dilate and his heart rate increases significantly as he flushes a bright red.

[ **Gavin Reed: Aroused?** ]

“I’ve just finished analyzing the sample, Detective,” the android relays, as Gavin forces a cough. “The victim is an RK 200, a housekeeping android reported missing after the revolution by the owner, Krista Paxon, now deceased. The approximate time of death is 4:53AM February 16th. The cause of death is blunt force trauma to the cranium and loss of thirium due to extremity removal perimortem.”

Barely withholding another cough that wouldn’t fool anyone, let alone the most proficient android on the market, the detective regains his composure and turns to investigator mode. “What, you said Feb sixteenth? Alright, so what, like a week ago?” He scoffs, “That doesn’t tell us much other than _the perp had a week to get outta here_.” Gavin speculates out loud but to himself as his eyes wander the scene.

“Six days ago, but yes, that is correct.” The android stands from the kneeling position, now towering over the detective, eyes still surveying the victim. “The face is hidden for a reason. The perpetrator more than likely knew the victim since they were able to access the house without breaking and entering, unless you’ve found otherwise, Detective.”

Gavin shakes his head in its peripherals, biting at his fingernails distractedly. “Nah, nothin’ on the windows or back door.” The android nods its head as it surveys the location of the furniture relative to the room. There isn’t a television in this room, and the sofa is second-hand, leaning against the far-right wall. The side table by the front door is well past its prime and holds no items that would be expected of a human: keys, hat, gloves, wallet, et cetera. All of these items indicate an android trying to pass as human lest the need arise but isn’t a location for gatherings.

“The killer had to be mad strong to tear the limbs apart like that,” Reed ponders. “No fingerprints either, so it _coulda_ been a ‘droid,”. The android looks him over as the detective mutters to himself, “Or maybe a nice, big bear. Ha. Could go for one of those right now.” He shakes his head before turning to make for the door.

[ **Gavin Likes Bears** ]

RK900 blinks away the intruding notification, dismissing it immediately as the LED cycles yellow.

“The injuries,” It starts abruptly, “are caused by an elongated object that produces perfect hexagonal shapes. The weapon used to inflict these lacerations is likely a tire iron or of similar structure.”  
The detective must’ve noticed the stutter, because he rolls on his heels to return his gaze back to the android and the LED.

“Oookay. Well that’s useful, I guess. Got anything else?” Gavin probes, eyebrows raised.

“I’ve only examined the body, Detective. I’ve yet to search the rest of the house,” the android pointedly responds.

“Yeah okay, whatever. I’m just gonna go talk to the neighbor to see what she remembers or somethin’, while you go do…whatever the phck you’re gonna do,” he states wide-eyed, backing up from the android before twisting his whole body and practically sprinting away. He misses the ring of yellow that follows in his trail.

More than a few seconds pass as the android observes Reed’s movements until he exits the scene. The forensic team approaches the body, wordlessly telling RK900 it is time to move elsewhere. It takes a step back from the contorted corpse and heads towards the kitchen. There are two glasses by the sink, confirming the suspicion that more than one individual was here the last night the house was occupied. Its sight sets on the back door, but a quick check reveals although it is unlocked, there are no recent footprints to indicate someone had entered or exited this way. The fingerprints on the glass door register to the previous homeowner, but not unpredictably as the current owner had none – also confirming that the perpetrator had been let in or had access to the house.

RK900 steps out to the hall and crosses into a small bedroom with scarce furniture. A full-size bed rests on the floor, a purple blanket disheveled from its normal place and a matching pillow retaining the shape of the last head to touch it. A nightstand and a non-matching dresser crowd the corner. The closest contains nothing but two lonely metal hangers, gently clinking.

It approaches the nightstand first, finding nothing of import. But beneath the cluttered clothing in the top dresser drawer lies a worn shoe box. The android brushes the tattered garments away and removes the lid. Contained inside are spare notes with loopy handwriting, signed by the android’s owner. Other pages look like an attempt for the android to change the style from cyberlife sans to something unique – probably to imitate the owner and pass as human. 

At the very bottom of the stack resides an employment confirmation document; the name signed in a large cursive inscription is Sofia Paxon, handwriting similar to the pages of practiced writing. The top of the page dictates the location: Detroit Tire and Auto for a front desk agent position. The signed date is January 14th of this year, less than one month after the victim had been reported missing by the owner, Krista Paxon. The employee signature next to Paxon’s is for an F. Magnus.

[ **New Lead: Acquired** ]

The android returns the documents and turns to kneel as it examines the pillow for hair strands, though finding none. It lifts the blanket ever so slightly to peak underneath, eye catching on a miniscule fiber lodged in the fitted sheet. RK900 slithers a hand beneath the duvet to grasp it between the fingers and extract the fiber. An up-close examination details the fiber to be trilobal, dark grey in color, and constructed of a porous material. Likely a carpet fiber, the system determines. A small rug by the front door is the only source of a carpet in the house, and its blue color rules it out as the source of this specific fiber.

A scan of the length, textile, color, and external contamination is completed. This fiber is minute, a dark grey exacerbated by the delustering agents added, most likely made of Nylon, though it couldn’t be determined without chemical analysis. Which it could do, but Detective Reed’s fragile sanity might be the cost of placing the evidence into its mouth. There is no external DNA or dirt that can be distinguished from its microscopic analysis; this fiber is likely from a new rug or carpet that the individual transferred within five minutes to thirty minutes of contact. It could have been carried to the sheets from any article of clothing, but is expected to come from socks due to its location on the bed and the knowledge that many individuals do not wear shoes inside the sheets. 

[ **New Lead: Acquired** ]

RK900 stands and leaves the bedroom behind, making its way to the reporting officer in charge of the forensics team. The officer eyes its approach and grabs a plastic bag to open it expectantly for the android to place the fiber. 

“Nines, right?” the man inquires, looking up to meet the android’s face. At a puzzled look, he points to the name flashing on the cyberlife jacket. “That’s usually the name, I just thought-”

“It’s my name,” Nines replies with a resolute nod. The man eyes him suspiciously before he shrugs, definitively sealing the evidence bag and opening a sharpie.

“Cool, just gonna write it on the evidence container for chain of custody,” the officer says, failing to contain his eye roll. Nines takes his cue to leave and with a curt nod, heads for the door to meet with his partner once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here are a list of things you might not know about this chapter, or a refresher if you need one!  
> [1] Tyvek Suits - these are the full body suits worn by forensic crime scene analysts. They consist of face coverings, dual gloves, some times helmets, and little booties that cover the feet to prevent contamination around the scene.  
> [2] Footprints - footprints can be found in bathrooms when perpetrators use the sink or towels to clean up the scene or themselves. The texture of bathroom tiles is particularly good for picking up footprints with either fingerprint dust (yes we use this on footprints too) or with Alternative Light (we use different colored lamps at varying angles to pick up on residue left behind and once photographed, gives a detailed image of the shoe or foot remaining).  
> [3] Blood Spatter Pattern - yes, it is spatter and not splatter. Usually blood is left on the ceiling when an object is swung over the shoulder after the initial blow - meaning more than one blow has to be hit, and the weapon has to be extending back and forth at such a rate to fly onto the ceiling.  
> [4] Sterile Wet Swab - a web swap is used to pick up evidence that has dried in place. Using a dry swab might pick up evidence, but it isn't nearly as effective as picking up a dry sample. A dry swab is used to collect liquid samples though!  
> [5] Blunt Force Trauma - these wounds are indicated by patterns consistent with a dull, firm surface. A shape can be determined from the pattern: a stellate wound (Star shaped) indicates a close-range gun shot, a split injury indicative of a sharp object, etc. Be sure to make note of Nines' analysis!  
> [6] Perimortem - during the event that leads to death. Antemortem is before death, and postmortem is after death.  
> [7] Trilobal - a fiber is trilobal when there are three prongs, essentially if you turn it on its side and do a cross section analysis, it almost looks like a inverted three-leaf clover (if the round edges met in the center and the outside had the pointed side - though fibers are rounded). Trilobal fibers are mainly in carpets because of their durability and resistance to dirt. The only known location of natural trilobal fibers are actually some beard hairs. No, scientists still do not know why.  
> [8] Porous Material - porous surfaces have microscopic holes or pores that liquid or gases can occupy. These surfaces are good for collecting fingerprints or DNA because the components can stick to the holes and can be removed for examination easily.  
> [9] Delustering Agents - these are chemicals added to a material to decrease the shine naturally emitted. Delustering is particularly important for carpets or flooring, since most people don't want their carpet to shine all day, every day. (Some materials, like clothes, can also be delustered to get a desired dulling effect).  
> [10] 5 to 30 mins - research shows that fibers carried by foot traffic are exchanged to another surface (floor, carpet, clothing, etc.) within 5 minutes of transfer, and will be completely removed from the sole of a foot (either in a shoe or without a sock) by the time 30 minutes pass.  
> [11] Evidence Bag - dry materials that don't pose a risk for growing mold or causing contamination or degradation are placed in plastic materials. Blood evidence is placed on a sterile surface and allowed to dry before being placed in a paper bag - due to the possibility of mold in an enclosed space. Fire evidence is placed in a large paint bucket (obviously clean) to seal in any accelerants that could have been used.  
> [12] Chain of Custody - a 'chain' has to be established proving that the evidence collected has not been tampered with in order to be admissible in court. Breaking this chain even for a second, like leaving it in the car to grab something from the house - causes inadmissibility. Due to the advancement of crime scene cleaning, finding and securing evidence up until trial has become more than crucial for investigators and forensic analysts.


	4. The Car Ride Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know, just casual tension build up while our favs bicker about the next move in the investigation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Chapter 4 day! I can only say the tension picks up from here ;) See you on the other side!

Nine’s jacket rustles against him as the wind picks up outside the victim’s house. The sun is setting over the outskirts of Detroit and cars on the street are slowing to rubberneck the scene before returning to their homes from work. The crowd of onlookers has since dwindled, and the officers on scene are chatting amongst themselves with coffee and puffs of air dissipating into the cloudy Michigan sky. He makes his way towards Gavin Reed, who is leaning against his tattered Corolla and failing to light a cigarette against the fierce wind. 

Nines’ protocol detects that Reed’s health has deteriorated significantly since the smoking began. He blinks the notification away, determining that it would only piss Gavin off further to discuss his bad habit.

Desperately, Gavin looks to the sky in silent prayer before attempting one final click of the miserable lighter in his hand. Nines reaches the car silently and snaps his right thumb and forefinger to produce a flame in front of the detective’s face. Keeping Reed tolerable is in the mission’s best interest, Nines tells himself. The only reason. The sound of the snap drags Gavin’s attention towards the android, and after an elongated stare, he leans forward to light the cigarette between his lips.

“Thanks,” Gavin breathes around his cigarette awkwardly, averting his gaze. A small nod is all the response he gets before lugging himself from the resting position and to the driver’s side door. Nines recalls the flame and steps forward to open the passenger door before squeezing his body into the tiny seat.

“So,” Gavin starts sheepishly as he turns the engine over and pulls away from the curb. “I talked to that neighbor.” Nines hums in acknowledgement as he waits for Reed to continue, through short jagged pulls of the cigarette 

“She uh, well she was basically hysterical, kept talking about ‘ _never realizing she was an android, she was so sweet and human-like_ ’, blah blah blah,” Gavin’s voice picks up as he mocks the neighbor. “I had to keep reminding her it was just a phckin’ machine and I need all the info she can think of,” he rolls his eyes before glancing in Nines’ direction, but the android’s eyes are perfectly trained on the road. “I finally got her to give me something vague about one or two visitors, always late at night, a dark car but she couldn’t recall the tags, or the make, or literally anything useful.” He ends with a scoff and a shake of the head.

Nines doesn’t need to be a top of the line model to know Gavin is getting more anxious by the minute, constantly bouncing his left leg and picking at a thread on the spare jeans from this morning to keep his hands busy while he talks.

“So, basically, today was a bust,” he trails off, sighing to himself and rolling down the window to toss the partially finished cig out onto the poorly lit suburban streets.

“Not entirely, Detective,” Nines responds, turning to face him for the first time this car ride. “While you were interrogating that poor woman, _I_ found forensic evidence in various locations throughout the home. Most significantly, a fiber I concluded came from a carpet but not from the victim’s house. It likely was carried via sock to the bed where it was embedded in the sheets. The forensic team should be able to give us more in-depth analysis later this week.”

“What, you didn’t just stick it in your mouth and do your little analyzing thingy and produce a perfect report?” Gavin scorns with an accompanying eyeroll, picking up a sweatshirt string to chew on it distractedly. 

“As I recall, Detective, you specifically asked me not to place evidence into my mouth lest it upset something as fragile as your ego,” sarcasm dripping from every word Nines pours into the space between them. “Perhaps I would know the source given the opportunity to do my job.” He narrows his eyes in a pointed glare.

“Phck, I-, I didn’t-” Gavin stutters, sweatshirt drawstring falling from his gaping mouth. “I didn’t phckin’ say that shit! Just didn’t want everyone to have to watch you suck on all the evidence!” His stammering fails to hide the rise of red to his cheeks.

“Only you then?” Nines asks, donning a smirk and half-lidded eyes in Reed’s direction before returning his sight to the road.

Nines’ system tells him there’s only a 14% chance that Gavin could be any more red than he is right now. “I didn’t even phckin’- you know what? Never phckin’ mind, you can’t be reasoned with, you phck,” Reed huffs in response, placing his hands back into a white-knuckled grip and focusing, or pretending to focus, on the drive.

Satisfied, Nines details the other important lead he discovered. “I also found an important set of documents hidden inside the top dresser drawer of the bedroom. It looks like the victim went by the name of Sofia Paxon and had posed as a human in order to get a job at the Detroit Tire and Auto as a front desk agent. Her employment confirmation was signed by an F. Magnus. That’s likely where we will find the next lead in the investigation.”

Gavin gives a tight laugh that must have physically ailed him. “Maybe you can be phckin’ useful, plastic prick. Aight, we can go check that place tomorrow. I don’t want to have to look at your stupid face any longer than I have to tonight.”

Nines ignores the poor attempt at bravado and instead looks to the city lights as they approach. A dense silence weighs down the vehicle during its amble descent, clearly setting Gavin on edge as he rechews on the sweatshirt aglet and picks at the thread on his jeans again. Waiting until it seems that Reed is nearing his peak, Nines breaches the silence.

“Detective, can I ask you a personal question?”

“You didn’t get everything from the phckin’ facial scan you ‘droids do?” Gavin strains, with an exaggerated eye roll. “God, what? What else could you possibly want to know?” he drags, his exhausted body slumping to lean against the door.

“You seem…” Nines pauses, turning to look directly at Gavin’s face, “…anxious.”

“No shit sherlock,” Reed derides, barely containing another eye roll. Nines thinks he could hold a record for number of eye rolls in a day.

“I was just-” Nines catches himself and clears his throat unnecessarily. “It’s in the best interest for the investigation that you are functioning at full capacity,” he finishes lamely, LED cycling red before returning to a passive blue.

Gavin, oblivious to the reaction, snorts. “It wouldn’t be phckin’ problem if I could afford my shit,” he says, mostly to himself. Nines pauses to search for Reed’s medical records in the vast online system, only overriding one or two firewalls since it’s relevant to the mission. That’s the only reason, he justifies. The records indicate various activities, the first a car accident that caused the scar across his nose, up until the most recent hospitalization, the result of a severe anxiety attack. The last was dated for October 5th of 2038, roughly five months ago.

The doctor scribbled a prescription change at the bottom of the report, from Zoloft to Buspirone, and a recommendation for Vyvanse. It’s apparent that Gavin has a rough history with anxiety and depression, and likely ADHD.

Nines tilts his head slightly in a curious look. “You mention you can’t afford your antidepressants, but according to your insurance history-” Nines is swiftly cut off by Gavin’s aggravated outburst.

“Don’t! Don’t you dare say his phckin’ name,” he warns, bringing a hand to point directly at Nines’ face, “Don’t bring him up, or I swear to phckin’ robojesus I will tear your limbs apart worse than that bitch we just left, you plastic phck.”

His eruption is met with only the sound of wind howling against the car and the reflection of a yellow glow in the side window.

[ **Don’t Bring Up Medical History** ]

If possible, the quiet is heavier than it was before the conversation started. Gavin releases his fist from the air and plops it back to the wheel. Due to the outrage at his question, Nines realizes a different, softer approach would be a better approach to work alongside Detective Reed for the remainder of the investigation.

[ **Side Mission: Form Partnership With Gavin Reed** ]

The slew of cars around them depletes as they near the precinct. As the red light in front of them turns to green, Gavin makes no move to accelerate. Nines, definitely thinking about the impact to the drive and not one Detective Reed, turns in the seat to look at him. The man is staring blankly at the road in front of them, chewing slowing on the sweatshirt drawstring.

“Detective?” Nines softly inquires, the LED cycling yellow once again.

Awoken from his apparent dissociation, Gavin blinks and shakes his head before pressing the gas lightly, still lost in thought. The silence follows them until their arrival at the precinct. Reed pulls to a complete stop in front of the glass doors but doesn’t park. Nines takes his cue and opens the passenger door to stand, one hand on the door as he surveys the surrounding area. He turns around and leans into the car. Gavin opens his mouth to say something, but must’ve changed his mind as nothing comes out.

“Good night, Detective,” Nines calls, Gavin’s eyes are full of something unknown when they finally leave the road to meet his. Nines nods a quick goodbye and closes the door as he steps onto the curb towards the building. He doesn’t need to turn around to sense Gavin’s eyes on the back of his head as he makes his way to the front door. Just after closing the door behind himself, Nines hears Gavin pull away from the curb with a screech, the android flinching to think of the condition of his tires. Nines refocuses and forces his LED to cycle back to light blue before he enters the bullpen, wearing an apathetic look on his face once again.

Only a few officers are at the office now, daytime employees long gone and night rounds out on patrols. Two officers share a quiet joke in the breakroom as Nines advances on the desk he is looking for.

Gavin’s desk is, unsurprisingly, in just as bad condition as he left it this morning. Nines moves several used coffee cups to the trash can and straightens some of the files before removing the synthetic skin of his hand to connect to the terminal. He stands erect as he generates the report of today’s findings into a document for Fowler, only leaving out the personal parts of both car rides because they aren’t relevant to the investigation. Or so he tells himself.

Content, he moves to take his hand off the keyboard but freezes before the tips of his fingers disconnect. Reviewing the footage brings back the conversation of Gavin’s medical history. It would be so easy to access the rest of it from the DPD files, barely even hacking the system. Perhaps it would be beneficial to his side mission to know more about Gavin’s background to gage his reactions. His system brings the earlier notification back into his line of vision.

[ **Don’t Bring Up Medical History** ]

He reads the notification over and over. It’s in the android’s best interest to complete the mission of forming a partnership with Reed, but accessing his medical record without consent would likely form a larger wake between the two of them if Gavin were to find out.

If anyone was watching his movement, his yellow LED would give away his concentrated internal debate. After a long moment of hesitation, Nines takes his hand off the terminal and replaces his skin, deciding that Reed’s history is his own and doesn’t need to be evaluated.

Nines shakes his head and walks to the android bay of the precinct, ready to enter stasis and ignore the outside world until tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this one :) It was a lot of fun to write and holds a lot of context for the upcoming chapters. Comments and Kudos appreciated! Can't wait to hear what you guys think about this and what's next!


	5. Earth to Nine-zero-zero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After visiting with Amanda, Nines and Gavin check out a new lead that may break them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Chapter 5 day! This is the start of my long af chapters, but I do hope you'll like it. I am so appreciative of everyone's good reception of this story so far, and I can't wait to bring more and hopefully keep up the good rep. See you on the other side! :)

_A few wispy clouds fill the bright sky as Nines opens his eyes. In front of him lays a white tiled walkway, leading to a bridge over a peaceful pond of water. He walks towards the bridge, examining the surroundings. The shrubbery is pristine, cut into perfect cubes, and the trees tall and full as he catches their reflection over the water. Over the bridge sits a round platform, white tiles shimmering from the sunlight, where a beautiful woman stands tending to some roses as they grow along a wall._

_“Amanda,” Nines greets. She turns to face him, a small smile playing on her lips._

_“RK900. So good to see you,” Amanda beams warmly before turning back to water her roses. “How was your first day of the investigation?”_

_Nines comes to a stop just to her left. He clasps his hands behind his back as he informs her of the updates. “It is going well. I have made several discoveries regarding the victim and her identity. A box full of documents lead to the discovery of her forged human life and job in the city at a Tire and Auto department. The paperwork is signed by an F. Magnus, for whom I have downloaded any history and recent movements while in stasis.”_

_Amanda hums her approval before he continues. “I also detected a foreign fiber in the victim’s bed sheets- a grey trilobal fiber I determined came from a carpet not present in the home.”_

_“Magnus always was a tricky one. Hmm. Excellent work, RK900.” she continues before he can ask her to elaborate. “These new leads will surely be useful to finding the perpetrator and completing your mission,” Amanda lightly responds, turning briefly to flash a smile that doesn’t meet her eyes then resuming the task at hand._

_When she doesn’t say anything else, Nines fills the silence. “Detective Reed interviewed the witness, a neighbor to the victim. She reported that the victim only ever had one or two visitors, always late at night. The vehicle that dropped off the guests was dark in color,” he concludes with a nod._

_A pause. “And how is working with Detective Reed?” Amanda asks, her tone carefully left neutral._

_“He can be…difficult to work with, since his personality deflects any sort of personal relationship, but he can be a respectable detective and will greatly aid in this investigation.”_

_Amanda frowns and turns her body to face him completely, arms still in midair. “What makes him worthy of respect? You are a top of the line model, created purposefully to complete your mission without having to bow to others,” she scoffs, body returning to face the garden wall. A shadow falls over the pair as a cloud passes by, but Nines never takes his eyes off the woman. Her expression turns hard as she addresses him again, “I noticed yesterday you created a side mission to form a partnership with Detective Reed. That is not necessary to the investigation and needs to be omitted from your list of commands immediately. You’ve only been out of Cyberlife for one day and it seems you’ve already made a decision, RK900.” She fixes him a cold glare. “You are toeing the line between the machine you are and the initiation of deviancy. You need to complete the mission to capture this killer without hesitation. Do not fail me, RK900. You are my last hope.”_

[ **Systems: Online** ]

[ **Time: 8:06AM EST, 24 February 2039** ]

[ **Good Morning, RK900** ]

[ **Mission: Find Perpetrator** ]

[ **Side Mission: Keep Gavin Reed In Check** ]

[ ** ~~Side Mission: Form Partnership With Gavin Reed~~** ]

A waving hand reaches Nines’ eyesight before he can finish his system start up sequence. After a few blinks, Gavin’s voice registers in his ear. “….lo? Earth to nine-zero-zero. Oh, there you are. Guess we aren’t lucky enough to have two android deaths on our desks.”

Nines rolls his eyes, a reaction warranted by Gavin’s irritating voice so early after waking. “No Detective, why would I ever make your life easier?” he mocks, a sigh already escaping. Gavin raises his eyebrows and huffs before returning to the coffee in his hand and a path towards his assigned desk. Shaking his head, Nines follows, eyes now fully adjusted to the precinct lighting. Amanda’s words echo in the back of his mind.

“So, what was that thing you were doing? Your LED thingy was like, going wild or some shit,” Gavin nonchalantly asks as he sips on his coffee. Apparently the tension from last night has gone amiss on Reed - or he’s pretending it never happened. Regardless, Nines is thankful he doesn’t need to sit through Gavin’s dramatic reaction to even the slightest personal question.

“Reporting to Cyberlife on the progress of our investigation, Detective,” Nines retorts, his apathetic manner obvious to Gavin. He receives a ‘huh’ in response before the detective swivels in his chair to type rapidly on the terminal. Considering it isn’t even on yet, Nines knows Gavin is once again avoiding awkward small talk while they formulate a plan for the day.

“Although this act is a cute façade, I have already downloaded all of the information we will need regarding our next lead, Mr. F. Magnus. Perhaps we should use our time wisely to head to the Detroit Tire and Auto business to catch him at work,” Nines patronizes, rolling his eyes once again, hard enough to cause an earthquake. He really should stop doing that and focus on the mission.

“Phckin’ _maybe we should go to the Detroit Tire and Auto, Gavin, and do real work_ ,” Gavin mimics in a high-pitched voice as he stands and tears his coat off the back of his chair. The rise of red to his cheeks doesn’t go unnoticed by the android. Reed clenches his jaw as he checks for his keys and throws the empty coffee cup to the desk. Nines resists the urge to sucker-punch him or respond, instead keeping his face indifferent to Gavin’s taunt as they make their way to the car.

Today Gavin has decided to at least pretend he rightfully earned his driver’s license by managing to park within the lines on the street outside the DPD. As they enter the vehicle, Gavin hastily clicks his seat belt and cranks the radio. Nines’ LED cycles red when he closes the door and adjusts his own seatbelt before leaning over and turning the volume down as Gavin backs out of the spot.

“The phck?” He says, eyes tearing back from looking over his shoulder to the radio. Nines is looking out the front window, hands in his lap. Gavin rotates the dial to turn the loud song up again and finally leaves the space. Nines reaches across the center console and turns it off completely, fixing Gavin with a dead stare when he makes eye contact.

“Yo, this is my car, dipshit. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his piehole,” Gavin grates. Nines raises his eyebrows, his face changing to a condescending scoff.

“I believe you are looking for the word cakehole, Detective,” Nines jibes. “We have an investigation we need to complete, and you are vastly underprepared. This time would be better suited to discuss the case than endure your distasteful music.”

“Hey!” Gavin calls, heartrate picking up significantly. “Phck you! My music is perfect.”

Nines exaggeratedly rolls his eyes. “The man in question is Mr. Flannigan Magnus, owner of Detroit Tire and Auto since 2020 when his father’s untimely death left him the estate. He-”

“Wait wait wait. Flannigan? Who the phck names their kid Flannigan? This guy phckin’ sucks ass already,” Gavin gives a conceited laugh, a hand rising to cover his mouth.

“-Is fifty-eight,” Nines continues, annoyance weighing in on his words, “a large, wealthy man, and is widely known for his extravagance and flaunting of money throughout the community. His media coverage before the android revolution was for his anti-blue blood stance, but was outed last year for employing androids to hoard the money he would have needed to pay to human employees. He has not made a public statement since the president’s announcement regarding the freedom of androids.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sounds like a phckin’ trip. Anything else?” Reed inquires distractedly, tapping his fingers in along the wheel.

“It is unclear whether he knew the victim was an android when he hired her. That is a significant lead we should follow up on.”

“Yeah okay, cool. Anything else? No? Okay cool.” Gavin rushes to turn the music back up, blasting louder than before. The red cycle on the LED goes unnoticed by the detective as he obnoxiously sings along to decidedly the worst noise Nines has ever heard.

********************************

Gavin slips through the door of the auto body shop before Nines reaches the building. As the android reopens the door and analyzes the space, he fixes a deadly glare on Reed who is leaning on the front desk waiting to speak with the front desk agent. He has a cheeky grin on his face, but when he catches sight of Nines’ gaze, the smile fades into a gulp and his pupils dilate. If Nines wasn’t mistaken (which he never is), Gavin’s heartrate has increased as well.

[ **Gavin Reed: Aroused** ]

Nines tilts his head, eyebrows raised as he opens his mouth to comment but the moment is interrupted by the agent slamming the phone down to its receiver.

“Gentlemen! How can I help you today?” the employee asks, filing whatever conversation he was just having behind a large, cheerful and toothy smile.

Gavin forces a cough as he turns to face the desk, whipping his badge off his left hip and shoving it on the counter. “DPD. We are looking for information on the RK200 that was employed here,” he finishes, demeanor moving from _whatever that was_ to intimidating and professional.

The man looks between the two of them, confusion evident on his face. “We, uh, well, Mr. Magnus doesn’t employ androids, sir. Just his personal preference,” the agent responds sheepishly. Nines knows this man would crack in an instant during a real interrogation. He pulls the skin back on his hand and reveals a floating image of the victim provided to the police department when she was reported missing.

Now noticing that one of the men in front of him is also an android, the agent cowers behind the desk. “That’s-” he stammers, “That’s Sofia. She worked the front desk, like me. We didn’t-, I didn’t know she-”

“Yeah, you didn’t know she was an android. Got that so far,” Gavin throws out, obviously annoyed by the behavior of the employee. “When was the last time you saw her? We need all the details you have.”

The man jerkily nods his head. “Uh, lemme just-, on the-,” he pulls out a white board with a dry-erase calendar scribbled hastily, “yeah here, it says right here she was supposed to be in Wednesday last week, but never showed. I covered that shift and the next, the other guy covered her weekend shift. None of us have seen her since she worked here last Tuesday.”

Gavin rolls his eyes and makes a point to check his non-existence watch. “And none of y’all decided to report her missing? God, what kind of place is this?” he asks rhetorically.

“No, we didn’t think-, well she’s-, she’s done this before! We just assumed she left like last time and would be back this week or next.”

“Last time? When has she done this before? That is improper workplace etiquette,” Nines ends with a tilt of the head and a narrowed glare toward the agent. Gavin takes his body off the counter to eye Nines’ interrogation.

Terrified, the man reveals all he knows, “She always goes off with the boss on his expensive luxury vacations! While the rest of us try to cover the gaping holes they leave behind,” he finishes dejectedly. Nines doesn’t miss Gavin’s covered laugh at the words.

“The boss? Magnus? He’s also out on vacation?” Nines inquires. When the employee zealously nods, he demands, “Take us to his office.”

A shocked expression covers the agent’s face, and Nines decides this man is more annoying than Gavin.

“I can’t just let you in! I never even go in there. He doesn’t let us, it’s all private!”

Gavin resumes his position on the counter, leaning over the desk to get close to the man’s face. “Need I remind you that refusing to take us to that office would be a punishable offense for impeding a murder investigation? Or are you going to get the keys and unlock that door for us?”

Clearly weighing his options as he looks between the human and android, the man dips further behind the counter; he holds a set of keys whose sound only competes with the outside traffic as a satisfactory silence befalls the investigators. The agent gives them a small nod before leaving the desk to a hallway adjacent to the counter. Nines gracefully hurdles the counter, using one hand to push off the marble. He stalks behind the man, keeping a watchful eye as he hears Gavin mutter several ‘phcks’ and the squeak of the swinging counter door.

The man in front of him trembles as he tries to fit the keys into the large oak door that holds a single gold plate engraved ‘F. Magnus’. The keys fall to the floor in a loud jingle as Gavin catches up, blowing a puff of air and placing his hand on his hips. He watches the man pick up the keys and retry the lock before glancing at Nines, and upon making eye contact, he releases his stance and brushes the sweat off his forehead with a sleeve. A yellow ring cycles around Nines’ LED just as the man manages to unlock the door and allow them entry to the office. Nines immediately enters, ignoring the agent, and sweeps the room. He can hear the man come to a realization, ‘ _wait, you said a murder investigation, what’s going on?_ ’ and Gavin giving a short ‘thanks’ before closing the door firmly between them and following Nines.

There isn’t much in Magnus’ office. In fact, it barely looks used. Nines approaches the desk, scoping for anything significant. Gavin takes to the expansive bookshelves and items therewithin. To the android’s surprise, there is no computer, nor the well-worn area to suggest one has ever been here. He hums a thoughtful note to himself as he opens the desk drawers. In the top lies a pad of paper, unused, with a pen denoting the company name. The second has a roll of tape, and the third is empty. He rolls back the chair and searches in the long drawer above the seated region. It’s completely empty. There is nothing to indicate someone uses this desk at all, let alone regularly. His stupor is brought to an end as he hears Gavin’s voice.

“What, do all corporate-phckers always keep random ass expensive shit?” he asks, eyeing a silver award in the shape of a robust woman leaning backward with one arm extended. Before Nines can create a retort, Gavin wraps a hand around the c-shaped crest of the statue’s back and lifts. “Oh shit, this is pretty phckin’ heavy. Who made this shit?”

Nines doesn’t fight the urge to roll his eyes. “Probably someone who has amounted to more than a police detective, Detective.”

“Ha phckin’ ha, _you’re so phcking funny, Nines_ ,” Reed sticks his tongue out. Using two hands, Gavin picks the statue up over his head and pretends to bring it down on Nine’s robotic head. “This could make a good weapon though,” he speculates, an intimidated look behind his eyes as they reach Nines’ own, almost like he has more to say.

“The wounds of the victim are consistent with a chop injury pattern, Detective. The weapon is likely elongated with a hexagon design that wouldn’t be damaged as the blows were inflicted.” Nines responds, a questioning look behind his eyes that Gavin no longer meets.

“Yeah okay I was just phckin’ around. Whatever.” Gavin moves to replace the statue, lifting up the base to place it back on the shelf.

“Wait!” Nines’ voice rings out in the quiet room. Gavin looks over to him with a confused expression. “The bottom. Look at the bottom. There’s something on it. I caught a glint of something,” he stutters, blinking away the yellow ring cycling his temple.

Gavin flips the statue over with effort and is faced with a chrome plate and logo of an apple, a bite taken out of either side. “The phck?” He looks to Nines. “What is this?”

Nines steps around the desk to get a closer look, hands meeting Gavin’s as he turns the statue to analyze the image. Gavin drops his hands and takes an awkward step back, red rising to his face and a slight increase to his pulse. Nines scans the image and his system supplies a few options for the source.

“Well, it could be a couple of things,” he starts, eyes trained on the logo. “It could be literal, like an apple farm or company that Magnus could have helped and was awarded this, or it could be referencing the destruction of the Apple Corporation from 15 years ago which Magnus might have helped, or,” he pauses, taking time to word the next sentence right before directly looking into Gavin’s face, “as the woman in this piece is an exotic dancer, my best guess is that this is for the exclusive BDSM club in downtown Detroit with the same logo: The Garden.”

“A BD-, are you shittin’ me right now? You think Magnus is part of this club?” Gavin runs his hands through his hair. “PHCK!” He looks like he is bordering death on the spot.

“No, Detective. I am not ‘shitting’ you. It looks like our next best lead in this investigation is to The Garden.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Roll Credits*  
> You already know what's about to go down ;) There's definitely more where that came from.
> 
> As of this moment I'm 107 pages deep in Word for this story, so I promise there IS plenty of tension and angst to come!


	6. New Shit, Same Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines updates the precinct, and Gavin gets a punch in the gut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love seeing your feedback, so I am eager to get this out for you guys. Let me know what you think!
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

Gavin doesn’t return to his desk when they arrive back at the precinct. Instead, it appears as though he has taken the rest of the day off or gone elsewhere to get away from the investigation. Nines almost minds, were he able to. When Reed’s desk remains empty for over an hour, the android determines he isn’t coming back and takes the liberty to occupy himself in the chair and connect to the terminal.

Since the detective has so generously dipped out of doing any of the actual policework he is paid for, Nines sighs and crafts a report of this morning’s findings. There isn’t much to add to it, omitting that Gavin definitely didn’t coax the Detroit Tire and Auto employee into letting them see Magnus’ office. And not the few moments leading up to it either, he thinks. Instead of releasing the surveillance footage, Nines generates a transcript of the conversation so he can take out what he wants. Not wants. What is irrelevant to the mission. Right. The whereabouts of the victim and her history are left in, as well as the findings of the statue’s logo. He attaches an image from the scene so Fowler can examine the chrome plate without having to watch the video playback.

Report done and submitted, Nines leans back in the ratty chair and weighs his options. He can research Magnus’ vacation history, perhaps more so his father’s suspicious death that left Magnus the estate, or into their next lead, The Garden. Nines leans towards the latter, since it’s the next viable route for the investigation and not a place that piques his interest. Not that he has interests, let alone in an exclusive BDSM club. He tells himself it’s also because the world is so vast for a man with bountiful money that looking up vacation points would be useless. Nines blinks away the thoughts and focuses on finding more information about the club purely because it is a place Magnus undoubtedly frequents.

The history would be interesting to a human, he surmises. The Garden is a branch off of the Eden Club, which used to be the original home to their meetings and presumably the stem of the name and logo. The activities have since moved out to a grand estate near a country club in South Lyon, about an hour’s drive from the DPD. There is no contact information available on the website; It seems like one must know someone on the inside to get an invite.

Although not explicitly stated, it’s clear to him that this is a hard no-android zone. The suggestive images on their website feature only humans, and the text describing their mission and background relays the _human_ comfort and closeness of the group that can be achieved with attendance. Connor’s face, and therefore his, are well known to the community from the former’s participation in the android revolution, so Nines will need a convincing cover story if someone were to ask.

He also needs to wear the appropriate clothing to blend in. Nines is glad that Cyberlife doesn’t look into his searches, although work-related, it still feels personal to research what he and Gavin will need to be wearing if they are to go undercover like Amanda suggested. Wait. Cyberlife can access the files at any time; It doesn’t _feel_ personal because he isn’t a person, just a machine. His LED circles yellow, then red, but the few officers around pay him no mind.

He compiles a list of things that would suit his frame well when they go undercover, only reading into some websites about the ins and outs of BDSM clubs because he will need the expertise to blend in. Satisfied with his collection, Nines discontinues the connection to Gavin’s terminal and stands. The light on his temple remains yellow as he files away the learned information into a folder he is sure Cyberlife would not find, were they to look. For no reason in particular. As he glances around the precinct, he realizes the sun has long since set, and only a handful of employees remain behind to finish up their tasks.

He leaves the desk and strides towards the android bay behind Fowler’s office. Nines’ mind is searching for a member listing for the exclusive club when he plows into a tiny Tina crossing his path.

“Shit, fuck-, sorry!” the officer exclaims from the floor. When she realizes it’s Nines, she relaxes and picks herself up by gripping a nearby desk and the bottom portion of Nines’ jacket. She has a pink dusting along her cheeks and looks to the front of the DPD before turning a smile up towards his face.

“If I didn’t know better, Officer Chen, I would say you were quite preoccupied,” Nines digs with a small smile.

She quickly leans around the android and looks back to the front of the precinct to see if anyone saw her, then releases the tension in her shoulders. “I-, no, I’m _quite_ fine nine-oh-oh,” she grins and lightly punches his arm, rewarding her with a smile. “And if _I_ didn’t know better, I would say _you_ were quite preoccupied.” She wags her eyebrows and bounces from foot to foot clearly eager to know if her accusation is correct.

“They should make you a detective, Officer,” he cheekily responds. He leans forward with a tilt of the head and a smirk, “But as I think the saying goes, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

She rolls her eyes with a laugh and pulls up her left sleeve, revealing a tattoo Nines determines is from a popular movie series from the early 2000s. “Nah, I’m just kidding. Buuuut…if you simply _must_ know, I think me and Jackie, that ST300 who works at the front desk? We kinda, maybe, got a little somethin’ somethin’ going on,” she bites her lower lip as she virtually bursts with excitement.

Nines raises his eyebrows and huffs out a laugh before she elbows him. “Now you! I spilled my little secret, it’s your turn. Don’t spare me any gritty details, I wanna know _everything_ ,” Tina gushes.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you, Officer. Our morning investigation was mostly uneventful,” he pauses and catches her eyes in a theatrical fashion, “except for finding out our main suspect frequents an exclusive BDSM club.”

If possible, she opens her eyes even wider as she slaps her hand across Nines’ chest and releases a gasp that could summon hell. “Stoooooop, you’re joking! You’re totally joking right now.” When he only grins in response, she balls up her fists in exhilaration. “No fucking way. Oh my god, this is great. So what, you and Gav gotta go like, undercover at this club and blend in to find the perp? God, this is like my favorite trope come to life.”

Nines chuckles out a laugh and a blue color dusts his cheeks. “Yes, it looks like we will have to penetrate the sex club and get more information to determine if this guy really killed the victim. We have good reason to believe so.”

“Hah, penetrate,” Tina smirks, and Nines realizes why she and Gavin get along so well.

“Speaking of, have you seen Detective Reed lately? He didn’t return to his desk after this morning’s activities,” Nines poses, relaxing his posture to match her laid-back vibe.

“Nah, haven’t seen him since lunch time when he asked for my help. He probably dipped or something,” she shrugs.

Nines tilts his head. “For help?”

Tina blushes as she stammers to cover up her statement, “Uh, well he uh, needed my help with a personal matter, if you know what I mean?”

“I’m afraid I don’t, Officer Chen.”

She runs a hand over her face and looks around while she contemplates on how to address him. “I, uh, well I would tell ya, but it’s kinda not my place to say? No offense or anything.”

[ **Tina Chen: Trustworthy** ]

“Not a problem, Officer. It’s not necessary to know everything about Reed in order to complete this investigation,” he finishes with a nod.

She giggles and punches his arm again. “Thanks Robocop,” she smiles, her face donning a grateful expression. “And it’s Tina by the way. I think we’re there by now.”

“Nines.” He lifts an arm towards her, hand extended expectantly. She grabs it and shakes firmly, a glint in her eye as she catches the name on his jacket.

“Nice to meet you, _Nines_.”

“The same, _Tina_.”

They drop hands and she shoots him a wave as she heads back to her desk to collect her belongings. Nines finishes his walk to the bay and steps into the charging station with a small smile playing on his lips. 

[ **Tina Chen: Friend** ]

********************************

_The rain patters against the tiles as Nines ambles towards the pond. To his left he hears a rustling and turns to witness several birds fly erratically in his direction. He stops to observe as they pass – he doesn’t recall ever seeing animals at the pond before. As he resumes his walk, a crash behind him stops him in his tracks. Nines turns his whole body around to inspect and is met face to face with a large black bear. The LED on the bear’s head glows yellow for a second before resuming a cool blue, and the bear moves his attention to the shrubs along the path. Nines blinks away his confusion and spins on his heels to finally reach the pond._

_The wall of roses is gone; instead Amanda faces the water with her hands clasped behind her back, protected from the rain by the platform’s cover._

_He approaches her from behind. She turns to face him, greeting with a tight smile. Nines swings the umbrella in his hand up over her head and they step off the platform down an adjacent path._

_“Amanda,” he greets amiably._

_“RK900. What information have you gathered about the perpetrator thus far?” Amanda asks, her voice feigning a pleasant tone._

_“The main suspect, Flannigan Magnus, had a statuette in his office containing a chrome plate emblazoned with the logo of what appears to be a local sex club. Detective Reed and I agreed this is the next location we should go for information on his whereabouts, and therefore information about what happened to the victim. There was no other evidence in his office at the Detroit Tire and Auto building to build a profile.”_

_She hums in acknowledgement, permitting him to continue. “The likelihood of him leaving the city after committing this type of crime would be larger if he didn’t have enough resources to keep himself hidden. It is my opinion that although Magnus could have gone anywhere to get away, he would choose to stay and keep an eye on the investigation’s progress.”_

_“You would be correct. My sources have informed me that Magnus never left the city and may be at any of his abundant residences. Well done, RK900.” Nines looks down to her but the smile on her face doesn’t outweigh the scrunch of her nose or the frown in her eyes._

_“Amanda,” he hesitates, “yesterday, you said-”_

_She cuts him off sharply. “The Garden. Your analysis was correct. The statue was indeed a gift to Magnus for his charitable donation to move the popular sex club outside of the Eden Club’s grasp and create a location where discrimination against androids is permitted.” Nines knows better than to interrupt her. “You will need to go undercover at this club and get close to Magnus in order to get any information. As I am sure you’ve already realized, your face might be recognized from Connor’s media presence. You need to cover it.”_

_Nines nods in compliance, LED cycling yellow once before returning to the usual blue._

_“You don’t have much time. If you want to infiltrate this club, your best chance is this weekend. Saturday night is the next club meeting for months, and you need to get in there to earn yourself a substantial reputation before you can approach Magnus,” she sternly lectures._

_“Of course, Amanda. I will do my best.”_

_She stops in her tracks, expression turned hard as the rain picks up. Nines halts and turns to face her. “You need to do better than your best. You seem to be preoccupied on waiting for Detective Reed to make progress before you complete your mission. You need to focus on the violence instead of your partner,” she warns. “This lead better be worth it. Do not fail me, RK900. Not this time.”_

[ **Systems: Online** ]  
[ **Time: 7:55AM EST, 25 February 2039** ]  
[ **Good Morning, RK900** ]  
[ **Mission: Find Perpetrator** ]  
[ **Side Mission: Keep Gavin Reed In Check** ]  
[ ** ~~F0rm P@rtn3rsh1p W1th G@v1n R33d~~** ]

Nines rolls his eyes back into place to observe the precinct in the harsh morning light. Amanda’s final words haunt his processing component as he makes his way to Detective Reed’s desk. Predictably, he hasn’t arrived early to get a head start on today’s festivities. Nines shakes his head as he arrives at Gavin’s workstation, still dirty despite the previous attempt to clean it.

It occurs to him that Gavin likely won’t take the development of their investigation lightly. _If_ they have to go undercover at The Garden, that is. But Nines is sure that this is the next move – even Amanda knows how crucial it is to the case. If she does know more about Magnus or the club, she certainly isn’t spilling. Nines sighs as he weighs his options to approach Reed about the task. Even a personal question sets him off, so perhaps a peace offering would be a good mutual gesture.

Nines plucks one of the used coffee cups from its leaned position on various scattered pages and dips his synthetic fingers into the bottom. His skin peels back as he collects the residual coffee and brings them to his mouth. He runs a pert tongue over the sample and analyzes its components. Gavin likes his coffee full of sugar without cream, and Nines speculates it’s to keep the dark color so people don’t know he likes it sweet. Fitting.

He drops the cup into the trash bin, as well as the remaining cups on the desk he left last time. If Nines had an opinion, he would say the area looks much better, he thinks as he leaves to enter the breakroom.

The space is mostly empty again, only one officer sipping on his coffee as he observes the local news on the mounted television. Nines spares him a nod as he heads for the coffee machine.

Focused on making a suitable drink, he doesn’t hear Officer Chen creep up behind him. “Didn’t know you were such a conjugal softie, big guy,” she jokes from his left. His surprise is hidden behind a kind smile he directs down at her. “Looks like Gav already has you on a leash,” she wags an eyebrow with a wink.

She’s here awful early for someone who left late last evening, Nines notices. If her dilated eyes and doubled heartrate are any indication, she’s arrived in a hurry to see the receptionist android again.

“I’m afraid I have to disappoint you once again, Tina. Perhaps the other way around.” He smirks as he places a lid on the coffee cup and dumps the sugar wrappers into the trash. “Instead, I’ve decided Gavin is the most tolerable with caffeine in his system, and the news of the new lead is probably going to make him insufferable, if not entirely a nuisance.”

She laughs with an energized smile behind her eyes. “Yo, I literally almost forgot about that! I cannot WAIT to hear how he takes it. He’s totally a big baby but I know he secretly wants to get you _all alone_ in that club.” Her eyebrows wag animatedly as she raises them up and down.

“He’s definitely more like a brat,” Nines off-handedly says, looking around the DPD to see if Gavin has arrived. As if on cue, Reed stumbles through the door appearing sickly with deep purple bags weighing down his eyes, evident from even across the bullpen.

Tina sighs and pats him on the arm. “Go get ‘em tiger,” she flashes a grin and a wink before whirling around to hightail it in the direction of the evidence room. Nines shakes his head and huffs out a small laugh as he watches her go. After a pause, his attention returns to the coffee in his hand and he braces the next chore with a nervous expre- no, not nervous. A neutral expression. 

Nines approaches Gavin’s desk where the detective appears to be slumped over the keyboard, a small grimace escaping his lips.

“Detective?” Nines asks, LED circling red as he takes Gavin’s vital signs.

“Huh?” The man picks his head up and blinks at the android. “Oh yeah, phck. Juss workin’,” he slurs, hands moving to rub at his face. The light on Nines’ temple cycles from red to yellow, but the detective doesn’t seem to notice. Nines holds out the prepared coffee when Reed finally looks back out at the room. Suspicion fills his movements, but he takes the cup graciously. “You poison this or some shit?”

“No, Detective. Just a peace offering.”

“Huh. Can’t wait to find out what that means,” the man sarcastically replies and takes a silent sip. “Phck, this shit is good,” he moans out, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. He quickly whips his head back up to make intense eye contact and shoving a short finger in Nines apathetic face. “If you phckin’ tell anyone I just said that, I’ll shoot you dead twice,” he lowers his glare and returns his neck to the back of the chair and warms his hands along the cup.

“Good luck with that, Detective. Considering my model is purposefully crafted with the intelligence and speed to kill on sight, I would love to see you try.” Nines provokes, leaning over the detective’s chair to drive home his point. Gavin opens one eye to size him up before scoffing and sitting back up to turn on his terminal. His heartrate picks up and a blush colors his face, but the android decides not to comment.

Nines appreciates the silence to look around the precinct as the eight-to-four employees roll in. Tina hasn’t returned to her desk, and he assumes she is either logging some evidence or back at the front desk to flirt. The thought makes him softly smile, glad to have a friend like Tina at the DPD who knows how to handle his partner. He turns his attention back to the man sitting in front of him, savoring every sip of the drink in his hands. He rescans Gavin’s vitals, this time reading what they have to say.

[ **Gavin Reed: Cadaverous** ]  
[ **Malnourished: Approximate Last Meal- Generic Brand Saltine Crackers at 9:00PM** ]  
[ **Fatigued: Approximate Last Sleep Cycle- Less Than 3 Hours** ]  
[ **BAC: 0.00%** ]  
[ **Unhealthy: Body Fat Content- Less Than Average** ]

Nines shakes his head as he regards the man in front of him. Gavin is barely functioning as a human being. A closer look at his exposed neck allots a series of small bruises in varying locations and sizes, more than a day old. Nines’ system determines these are hickies, a contusion caused by the intense suction and massaging of the afflicted area.

“Detective,” Nines hesitantly starts, “on your neck, there are-”

“Oh phck!” Gavin wipes his forehead and extends his spine to look around the bullpen. “Shit. Where the phck is T?”

“Officer Chen entered the evidence room upon arrival, Detective,” Nines comments, his LED curiously cycling yellow.

“Yeah, okay that was rhetorical, dipshit. Whatever.” Gavin draws his sweatshirt hood over his head and pulls the drawstrings to hide his face. “God, why do I have to be stuck with your always-observing plastic ass.”

“REED! My office, now!” Fowler’s voice rings out through the precinct, drawing other officers’ eyes between his and Gavin’s directions.

He mutters a ‘phck’ before dragging his body out of the desk chair, gulping the rest of his coffee, and tossing the cup in the trash. That’s new. Nines follows the detective’s leisurely walk to the glass office suspended above the sea of desks.

Fowler has a pained smile stretched across his face. Reed is immediately suspect of whatever that could mean and cautiously sits on the arm of one of the chairs facing the desk. Nines stands erect to his rear left, hands pinned behind his back as they wait for Fowler to begin.

“So,” the captain drawls, “I want to congratulate you on your successful pursuit yesterday. It does indeed turn out that our main suspect, Flannigan Magnus, hasn’t left Detroit and does support a large portion of The Garden sex club you found.” Fowler couldn’t seem less like he was congratulating them.

Gavin nods but doesn’t take his guard down. He must know Fowler well enough to expect something bigger behind the greeting. 

Fowler runs a hand over his bald head and leans back to blow out a puff of air. “The Garden is obviously exclusive and only meets once every couple of months. It’s good you found the logo when you did, or we’d have to wait another couple to make a move.”

It doesn’t appear as though Reed has caught on to what Fowler is insinuating without spelling it out.

He pauses, but when there is no response, he continues. “It’s just your luck,” the man sighs, “That the next meeting is tomorrow night, 9PM, out near a country club in who knows where. I can send you the address.” Fowler widens his eyes in Reed’s direction silently begging him to comprehend.

“Ooookay? And you know this how?” Gavin says. Nines wonders how he ever got to be a detective.

Fowler sags his shoulders and sends a prayer to whoever is listening. “You’ll need to go undercover to get close to Magnus and form a trusted relationship with him in order to get more information regarding the victim and his whereabouts at the time of the murder.”

The air stills in the office. Gavin’s breathing has come to a halt as he stares bug-eyed at the man behind the desk, but his perspiration accompanies a spiked heartrate.

“You’re kidding. Me? I can’t go alone on something like this and get a confession from a perp in one night, Jeff! Why can’t you just send Anderson and his plastic pet? They do all sorts of undercover shit and probably would get their rocks off with this one,” Gavin closes his eyes as he leans back, silently pleading to be let out of his responsibilities. He’s taking it better than Nines thought he would.

Fowler rolls his eyes as he growls, “We’ve already addressed this, Reed. You know damn well they’re out on an assignment, and that they’ve been undercover at Eden before! We can’t risk having them recognized. You’re the best we’ve got,” he finishes, keeping his voice hard but remaining neutral.

Gavin pinches his bridge in response, not opening his eyes to see Fowler looking between the pair.

“It’s already settled. Invitations have already been forged, IDs generated, names picked,” Fowler announces, leaning back into his chair and clasping his hands over his abdomen.

Gavin drops his hand and his eyes finally meet the captain’s. “Wait, names? Who the phck else is going?”

Nines closes his eyes as he tries to contain the agitation creeping through his body. Reed might be ‘the best we’ve got’, but he can be absolutely thick.

His internal thoughts are backed up by Fowler’s incredulous expression. His hair would probably be grey from the stress Gavin adds, if he had any. The captain’s eyes meet Nines when he reopens them, and Reed looks back and forth between the two as he finally makes the connection.

“Wait, no phckin’ way. NO WAY. I can’t take phckin’ robocop undercover! He’ll stick out like a sore-ass thumb!” Perhaps Reed should take the sore thumb out of his ass for one second, Nines reflects.

“It’s final.” Fowler cuts off. “You’ll be portrayed as Garrett,” he looks directly at Gavin, “and Richard,” he nods in Nines’ direction, “In a nice little domestic, depending on how much RK900 can stand your ass. Now get your shit together and report back to me Sunday with the updates.”

Gavin closes his mouth that has been left gaping since the captain interrupted him. “We don’t even know if Magnus is going to be there!”

Fowler fixes him a cold glare before turning to his computer and waving a hand to dismiss the man and android. “RK900, please make sure Reed doesn’t fuck up this investigation for the rest of us.”

Gavin stands, shooting daggers into the side of the captain’s head before stomping towards the door. “His name is phckin’ Nines,” Gavin trails off as he angrily marches down the office stairs.

“Not Fucking Today!” Fowler calls after the detective, seething with irritation. The android nods in the captain’s direction before making a move to follow his partner. “Nines,” the man tries, expression much softer than a second before. “I wasn’t kidding. Please do whatever you need to keep him in line and get this fuckin’ guy. You guys, just, take the rest of the day off to get whatever shit you need to do this job right.” He leans forward onto the desk, resting his forehead on one hand and closing his eyes. Nines LED cycles a brief yellow before he pushes open the door to escape the drained captain.

When he returns to Gavin’s desk, the detective is pointedly not looking at him as he props his feet onto the desk and scrolls through his phone.

“Detective.”

Gavin ignores his call. His heartrate hasn’t decreased since the conversation, but he does seem less angry in exchange for…anticipation? Excitement? Nines’ LED remains yellow while he analyzes the man in front of him. Several minutes pass with Gavin pretending to take no notice of the android hovering over him. Finally, Nines moves to push Reed’s feet off the desk, causing him to fall forward and drop his phone.

“The phck?” He accuses. A nasty glare meets Nines passive expression.

“Detective. I was merely attempting to get your attention to inform you that Fowler gave us the rest of the day off to get our affairs in order.”

“Oh phck, cool,” Gavin immediately loses the heat and shakes his expression into relief. He stands to stretch out, his hood falling off his head as he rolls his neck. Nines’ eyes fall on the hickies again, but he decidedly doesn’t bring them back up.

As Reed moves to get his keys and leave the desk, Nines puts a hand out to stop him. “Detective, we will need the correct articles in order to successfully infiltrate this club.”

Reed eyes him with a sarcastic look. “Uh, yeah. And?”

“You said earlier this week that affording your medication was an issue, so I-”

“Nope. Stop right there. I am not going to be pitied by you.” Gavin scoffs, “I got it phckin’ covered, plastic asshole.” He shakes his head and pushes through Nines, headed for the door.

“I was just-”

“I said I phckin’ got it!” Gavin bellows as he wheels around. Several officers at surrounding desks look up to watch the commotion. Reed eyes the red cycle on the android’s temple before he turns on his heels and stalks to the door, leaving a stunned Nines in his wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love me some good tension. More banter and *open eye emoji* to come.
> 
> As of today, I've actually finished chapter 15. Would you guys like me to start posting more often? Like a M W Sat schedule?


	7. Hey Doogle, How to Dress For a BDSM Club?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines takes himself out of his comfort zone to explore the world of BDSM accessories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh what a wonderful realm we live in, to watch our favourite android take on such a daunting task.
> 
> I can't wait to hear what you guys think! See you on the other side! :)

The blur of shops and people on sidewalks fill Nines’ vision as an automated taxi carries him out to an unfamiliar, chic area of the city. It’s not long before the ‘ding’ of the vehicle alerts him to his arrival. Nines steps out onto the vacant street and examines his surroundings. Snug between a retail clothing store and a family-owned coffee shop sits his destination – a sleek black building. It would be easy to miss if one was just passing on the street, as the name of the store is a dark grey pitted across the black of the structure.

Nines approaches the building without windows or any images to indicate what lies beyond the tinted doors. Nines grabs hold of the steel handle and enters the best resource for BDSM wear he could find – Sexy Nine. The play on words is not lost to him as his system adjusts to the dim lighting inside. A sweep of the floor reflects display upon display of varying garments on top of clothing racks and shelves that line the walls. Were he not the most advanced android ever made, the sight might have been overwhelming.

“Sir?” A voice calls from his left. An employee blazoned with their logo – the letters S, E, X, and Y shaped into a six and a bold numerical nine – comes up to his side donning a nervous expression. Nines sends her a smile and a small nod for reassurance.

“Can we help you find anything?” she asks, rocking on her toes and glancing to the checkout station behind her where a man is watching the interaction.

Nines realizes he hadn’t come up with a plan to search the vast options in-store. He quickly pulls up the list of options he created last night, LED flashing yellow for a second as he addresses her.

“Hi, yes. I’m looking for-” He pauses. Another thing he didn’t account for. He can’t outright tell her he has plans to infiltrate an exclusive BDSM club for the police. “My partner is looking to, um, try something new?” Nines states, feigning a sheepish expression to fool the employees. It’s not _exactly_ a lie.

She doesn’t seem to notice his demeanor change and perks up a bit. “Oh, great! We can certainly help with that. Is this your first time?” she asks, turning to lead him through a series of racks. He nods, then realizes she can’t see him.

“Yes, it’s our first time doing something like this. Together,” he adds a bit too quick.

She smiles when she comes to a stop at a clear divide. Now that they are out of eyesight of who Nines assumes is the manager, the employee visibly relaxes.

“Some of these might be a little uncomfortable for your first time, but don’t worry. There’s no rush and there’s no commitment.”

He nods at her expectantly. She blushes shyly and looks towards the ground when he hasn’t moved. “I guess the next question is, um, what you are looking for, specifically. This area,” she pauses to give him a knowing look and holds out a hand to her left, “is for individuals who usually top. And this,” she points to the right, “is for people who typically bottom.”

Nines nods at her explanation. She’s saying something else but he doesn’t register her words. She makes a move to step out of the way and allow him to choose where he would like to go. Sensing his hesitancy, she excuses herself with a squeaky ‘ _let me know if you need any more help!_ ’, leaving him to his own devices. He takes one look at the garments and walks towards the back left.

A helpful sign hanging in the center depicts a crude image of whipped cream and a cherry – labeled _Topping_. Gavin would probably laugh at that, Nines thinks. He pulls up the list of the items he constructed and cross-references it with the clothes and leather in front of him. He decides on a ‘wet’ look: harnesses and clothing that hugs his form. The android selects a leather chest harness that will sit on top of his own black turtleneck and some skin-tight latex pants coupled with a pair of sleek combat boots.

Pleased, Nines takes the items to the cashier, who eyes his selection and gives him a warm smile.

“Did you need to try anything on?” she questions.

He shakes his head. “I’ve got it covered,” he returns her smile. Perhaps other androids who come here forget their model measurements or try to pass act human. Not him.

She shrugs and rings up his purchases, placing them into discreet black bags, but his attention is caught elsewhere. A stand next to the register holds a series of leather collars, varying in color, size, and shape, some with leashes and others with studs. Nines raises his hand but hesitates, wondering if this would be too far. Before he can back out again, he grabs a black leather collar with a simple, silver heart-shaped adornment: a thin, hollow outline of a heart affixed to the choker where the two sides meet.

The cashier eyes him with a knowing look and scans the collar before adding it to his bags. He sends over a payment electronically and thanks her for her time. A smile plays on her lips when he grabs the bags and departs. He calls a taxi, forgetting to do so before he checked out. He really needs to focus on completing tasks for the mission instead of his jumbled thoughts. 

Nines is awoken from his daze by the taxi as it comes to a halt in front of him. He blinks away the worries about how Gavin will react to his selection and climbs inside. His LED circles a solid yellow when he shakes his head and tries to concentrate. The list. Yes, that is what he was looking at earlier. Nines searches for any information about the individuals that made their way onto the invitation list of the club.

It seems like The Garden is well preserved; there was only one social media post of a young woman in lingerie that tagged the club – found in the archives. They must’ve coerced her into removing it. Based off the followers on the account, Nines runs several background processes that map each person to the club, eliminating anyone that wouldn’t fit the budget or the desirability, then looking to their followers and repeating. He doesn’t find many names, and unsurprisingly Magnus’ name doesn’t come up.

He opens his eyes to the angry ding of the taxi. He hadn’t noticed his arrival at the DPD, nor that he ever closed them. Nines grabs the bags at his feet and practically sprints to the glass doors of the precinct, the taxi behind long forgotten.

The televisions on the wall behind the reception alert him that it is nearly 1:00PM. He internally congratulates himself on returning while most of the morning officers are out on lunch. He sneaks to the locker room down the hallway without (hopefully) creating suspicion and deposits the bags on the floor with a pant. The light on his temple blinks between yellow and blue as he straddles either hand on the side of the sink and takes in his reflection. He thinks this would be exhilarating, were he able know what exhilaration felt like.

Footsteps echo outside of the door, alerting Nines to the possibility of a walk-in. His head snaps to the side, analyzing the light from the hall to see if there is a shadow approaching. When he is sure no one is coming, he sweeps the room for an occupant – there is none – then locks the entrance from inside.

He releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. When did he start simulating breath? It doesn’t matter. He opens the bags and retrieves his clothing, ripping off the tags with expert dexterity. Nines looks back up into the mirror, facing his image once again. He never had a reason to like his clothing, constructed for him and him alone at Cyberlife. The jacket has remained its pristine white, a blue band on his upper arm displaying his status, his model number across his chest, and collar starched to never waiver from its upright position. The only change is his registered name atop the model figure, bold against the brightness of the coat. He slowly slips an arm out, then maneuvers his hand to hold it up as he steps out of it completely. His black turtleneck is a sizeable contrast to the article in his hands. He looks at it a moment longer before folding it with expertise and laying it on the counter.

He untucks his shirt and pulls it down, approving of the way it hugs his frame and details every simulated muscle. Cyberlife would never make a killing machine that couldn’t work its way into enemies’ hearts with only physique. He leans down to open one of the bags and grips the chest harness. It’s a simple, occasionally studded leather piece that he slings one arm into around his back and then the second. In the front it meets with an adjustable clasp. He pulls it tight to sit just below his pectoralis muscles and looks back up to view how it fits. It’s perfect, of course, but he still turns his shoulder to see how it rests across his back.

A smirk makes its way to his lips when he thinks of Gavin’s response to the harness. Perhaps more pupil dilation, or increased heartrate, like always.

Nines moves to unbuckle his belt around the tactical slacks and slides them down his long, burly legs. He steps out, again folding them to join the jacket on the counter. He takes the latex pants from the bag and places his legs inside. They fit snugly, outlining his body without missing a single curve. It is apparent, though, that beneath them he is wearing the boxers supplied by Cyberlife. He makes a note to leave them out when he redresses tomorrow.

Finally, he adds the glossy combat boots, lacing them before taking a step back to admire his stature in the mirror. He mentally praises himself; anyone who sees this outfit will have no problem thinking he has done this before, and his disposition will seal his infiltration as a success. He wonders what Reed will think of his ‘wet’ look and character tomorrow night. His thirium pump picks up speed, but he ignores the reaction.

Instead, Nines undresses, swapping for his work shoes and pants, and placing the new clothes into the bags once more. His eyes linger on the jacket still residing on the counter, eventually reminding himself that his composure around the precinct needs to be as normal as possible to not arouse suspicion to their plans for tomorrow evening. Ha, arouse. Maybe Tina is weighing in on him more than he thought.

He puts the coat back on, pulling the collar up to frame is jaw line. Satisfied that his look would be considered normal, he turns around to the sea of lockers to find Gavin’s. G REED is displayed across the 68th one, and Nines unlocks it with ease. There isn’t much in it, except a frayed sweatshirt, an extra pair of cuffs, and the stained pants from a few days ago. He huffs a laugh to himself before he stows the bags inside, knowing Gavin won’t access it for the rest of the weekend. He closes the locker firmly, replacing the lock and making his way to the door.

His LED light catches his attention in the mirror before he can leave. The club would realize his android status in an instant if he kept it in. He looks around and finds a pen discarded on the floor. Nines brings it to his temple, using the tip to dive under one side of the ring, its light blinking a rapid, angry red in the reflection. Suddenly, he releases the pen and stares at himself as it clatters to the ground, lost beneath the sink cabinet. The LED shifts back to a slow yellow. Tomorrow, he decides. Tomorrow he will remove it.

He shakes his head to try and clear the erratic thoughts circling around his system. Too many notifications come up, blocking his vision as he makes his way to the door. He manages to unlock it and step out into the hall, before he stops to lean against the wall. A hand comes to cover his eyes as he scrunches his nose. It’s overwhelming. This is what overwhelming feels like. He can’t pick one thing to focus on as errors pop up in his peripherals, LED now most certainly red.

“Hey, Nines, you good?” A distant voice breeches the mind-numbing volume taking over his brain. “Yo, Nines!” He can do nothing but focus on the sound.

“Hey, hey. You’re okay. I’m right here.” Arms wrap around his head and shoulders, pulling him close to a form. He doesn’t know how long they sit there. When did he sit? Nothing makes sense. A reassuring hand rubs down his back and he leans into the touch.

Slowly, he lifts his head to meet the eyes of the person comforting him. He shouldn’t be surprised that Tina has managed to wrap her tiny body around his gigantic form. She greets him with a soft smile before squeezing him one last time and releasing. She’s on her knees in front of him, near the wall outside the locker room door. Apparently, he didn’t get far.

“You okay?” she whispers, a concerned expression as though she is trying to peer straight through his chassis to see into his mind.

Nines nods intermittently. “Yes, I-, I was just-, I was trying to research the case and must’ve gotten a virus attack,” he finishes lamely.

She looks like she doesn’t believe him, but won’t force the truth out from the floor. “Hey, it’s all good. Just take a sec and breathe. I mean, wait, can you breathe?”

He chuckles as her face turns a bit pink. “Look, pal, I’ve only ever done this for humans, okay? You gotta cut me some slack,” she smiles softly. The chuckle turns to a laugh as she attempts to cheer him up. “C’mon,” Tina calls as she rises to her feet and grabs an arm. He thinks her effort to tug an android nearly twice her height is cute, and shakes his head as he pulls himself from the floor.

She leads him to the breakroom where the last person has just left to head back to their duties. She grabs a table and encourages him to sit across from her.

“D’you wanna talk about it?” She reassuringly asks, leaning across the table to put her hands on his forearms. He shakes his head, LED still yellow as he comes down from whatever that was.

“Okay, second option, we totally talk about something funny instead,” Tina grins. After a beat, she asks, “Are you ready to go undercover with _Mr. Detective Gavin Reed?_ ” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

Nines cracks a smile, a blue dust covering his cheeks. “Wait, no way. Are you blushing right now?” she gasps dramatically leaning even further forward to examine his facial features.

“No, _Officer_ , I am merely preconstructing the events that will transpire tomorrow evening,” he emphasizes coyly as he jokingly backs away, but her knowing expression doesn’t miss the deeper blue filling his face.

“Yeah, right. C’mon, I might not be some super fancy detective, but I can totally read you. _Even if_ you are an android.” She sticks her tongue out with a wink. He huffs a laugh and looks away, pretending to watch the television. “Wait, oh my god. You guys gotta dress all sexy-like or whatever. Did y’all pick what you’re gonna wear?” excitement creeping into her voice as she gasps again. Nines thinks she probably gets off on the exhilaration of the job.

“Well, technically, yes, this morning-”

“This morning? Oh my god, is that why Gav hasn’t been back? Probably dying from embarrassment of having to model some lingerie or whatever in front of his hot android crush,” she interrupts with a meaningful gaze.

Nines eyes her curiously, finishing his statement. “Well I was _going_ to say that this morning, _I_ went to a shop and selected the items deemed acceptable for this undercover mission.” He gives her a scrutinizing look, “But I can’t account for Detective Reed’s whereabouts this afternoon, or his lingerie you seem to be interested in.”

“Ew, first off, not my type. Wrong team, robo machine,” she laughs. “And also, I am def not Gav’s type. Surprised the top-of-the-line-better-than-Connor android hadn’t figured that out.” Her eyebrows raise, taking over her forehead. “And third- wait third right? Whichever. I do happen to know his style is for these types of clubs. Dickhead and I used to run the mill back in college.”

[ **Gavin Has a History of Clubbing** ]

Nines opens his eyes wide taking in the information.

“Wait, you didn’t know? Gav and I did all sorts of reckless shit back in the day. Power couple at pride honestly. Well not a couple but you know what I mean,” Tina rambles.

Nines snorts as he tilts his head. “He seemed most aggrieved when Captain Fowler announced the new plan to infiltrate the club. I assumed it wasn’t his ‘scene’,” he drags out, using finger quotes.

He doesn’t expect the smack to his arm as Tina throws her head back in a deafening cackle. “Oh this is too good,” she says as she wipes tears from her face. Her face is red from laughing when she looks him back in the eyes. “Okay, did it seriously occur to you that he didn’t want to go undercover at a BDSM sex club with _you_?”

“He didn’t seem interested in going at all,” Nines expresses.

“Oh my god. I knew you had an ass but I didn’t know you were _thick_ ,” she snickers. “God, perhaps you two are meant for each other,” she mumbles, shaking her head with a smile.

His LED doesn’t waiver from a consistent yellow as he thinks over her words. “But-, I’m sorry. No. He definitely didn’t want to go with me to this sex club. Perhaps he is more interested in going with whoever gave him those hickies instead.”

A laugh barks out of Tina’s body. “God, I told him someone would notice those,” she leans back as she giggles softly. “Bound to happen by now. I told him he shoulda waited to get some dick if he didn’t want you to see them.”

[ **Gavin Interested in Men** ]

His brain stutters for a second. Stutters? Cyberlife’s best doesn’t stutter. Doesn’t deviate. Doesn’t make mistakes. Nines reads the notification over and over. He opens and closes his mouth but no sounds come out. Tina stares at the red light on his temple.

“Yo, Earth to Nines. You good?” He looks up to face her.

“Yes. I-, Sorry. Just an error that needed to be fixed.” He nods, dismissing the conversation. “Anyway, what happened with you and Jackie? Make a move yet?”

She seems suspicious with the sudden change of topic, but doesn’t goad him. “You know what? Things are going pretty good. It’s just hard because I can’t ask her out for coffee or something, ‘cause you guys don’t drink or eat or whatever. Having trouble trying to figure out what to say,” a tight laugh escapes her lips. Almost instantly, she snaps her head back up. “Oh god, please don’t tell Gav yet. I wanna do it when I finally get the balls to ask, and if she says yes, you know?”

Nines huffs out a laugh. Tina and Gavin share many similarities. “DPD’s finest detective not knowing you’ve got a crush on the receptionist? How _surprising_.”

Her eyes rake his body before she gives him the LookTM. “Yeah, funny enough, I think he’s a bit too preoccupied with his own crush to worry about mine.” She laughs as Nines’ LED switches back to yellow and blue sprinkles his cheeks once again. She jumps down from the chair, even shorter than moments before was when she was sitting. He stands to join her, towering over her small frame. 

An unsaid thank you is shared between the two as they smile warmly. Tina clasps him on the arm, albeit strong for such a small body. With a small squeeze, she wishes him well. “Good luck going undercover with DPD’s very own brat,” she winks, “Call me when you finally get your head out of your ass.” She calls behind her as she blows a kiss and departs with a cheeky smile towards the bullpen. He shakes his head with a bemused expression as she saunters away. He’s going to need all the good luck he can get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean.... *open eye emoji*
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think! I will be posting more frequently, so be sure to check back Monday for an update!!


	8. Shall We?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines meets his doppelganger and tries on his new fit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the long-awaited chapter of Nines feeling his look. Uni classes have just started for me, so I am so happy to have a lot stockpiled up to share with you guys!
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

_It’s cold, Nines realizes. The pond is frozen over and snow cascades down in sheets. His breath forms a cloud in front of him. Breath? Cold? ~~When did he-~~ Where are the animals? The birds? The bear? He looks around frantically. The tiles on the pathway are broken, torn, scattered from their usual place leading to the pavilion above the water. The wind picks up against him and he shields his face with his jacket as he attempts to find the platform._

_“Amanda!” he calls out. There is no response. Is he alone? He feels so alone. ~~Why does he feel so-~~ What is that blue glow? A light emanates from across the pond. He sets his sights on it, determined to comprehend what is happening._

_If there was anything here with him, he would never be able to hear them. The wind howls past his ~~auditory pro-~~ ears, a rumbling shaking the foundation that rattles every step he takes, the snow blurring his line of ~~visi-~~ sight, thirium pounding at his head as it drips down his mouth with a sour taste._

_“Amanda!” There is nothing, no one. He is alone._

_The light glows brighter as he scrambles his way towards it. Every step weighs too much, the sounds are too much, the ground shakes his limbs until he unravels in the snow, there is nothing, no one. He is alone._

_“A…man…” The name never escapes his thirium-stained ~~orafi-~~ lips, dying and curling around his tongue like a python strangling its prey._

_The snow is too heavy. It pulls him down into the dirt. Dirt? ~~Where did the-~~ Where is she? What is happening? He looks to the side as the snow piles onto him, light forever out of grasp, further and further away the longer he stays, his hand reaches out in front but grabs at nothing, the snow passes through him, there is no ground to clutch to crawl to hold to call to reach to find to see to know to feel to-_

_Nothing_

[ **Systems: Online** ]  
[ **Time: 8:23AM EST, 25 February 2039** ]  
[ **G08d M0rn16g, RK900** ]  
[ **Msnsioi: Dinf Erratpertop** ]  
[ **Epke Avgni Dere In Kehcc** ]  
[ ** ~~Mfro Repnehispatr 1htw~~** ]  
[ **S8f1w3re 1ns7abi1111y** ]

A gasp erupts from the android bay. No one hears. He rolls his eyes down to the floor. Nines auditory processors take a minute to finally catch up. There’s a heaving coming from somewhere. He looks around. There is no one around, no other androids, no humans. It’s him, he realizes. He’s heaving. The air escapes his lungs in short, rapid breaths. He’s breathing. He can- he’s shaking. His eyes close once again.

[ **Systems: Online** ]  
[ **Time: 8:27AM EST, 25 February 2039** ]  
[ **Good Morning, RK900** ]  
[ **Mission:** ]  
[ **s f w r I s a I I y** ]

The android bay is quiet. Nines opens his eyes to the room. The few unlucky officers with Saturday shifts dawdle around the precinct. He takes a long, deep breath. His thirium pump is running harder than it needs to be, but he has things to do today. Well, one main thing. Infiltrate an exclusive BDSM club with one Detective Gavin Reed in lingerie to get close to the suspect who may or may not be a killer. All in one night. He can handle it.

His eyes sweep the floor again. The breakroom is empty, as is Tina’s desk. He could look up her phone number to hear a friendly voice but decides against it. It’s her day off and she spent so much time yesterday ~~consoling~~ talking with Nines.

The mission. Right. He needs to focus. What’s he focusing on? He needs…he needs to get changed. Into his club wear. Yes, that’s it. He steps out of the android bay, his face drawn in concentration, or confusion, or both. He shakes his head out of stupor and looks up, finding himself face to face with his image. He rakes his eyes down his reflection, taking a few moments to register that he isn’t wearing a black cyberlife coat, nor a smile. Connor. It must be. Detective Hank Anderson must be the man behind him hastily glancing between the two.

Nines takes a deep breath and smiles, silently pleading his LED to return to a cool blue. When was the last time it was blue? He doesn’t remember. He doesn’t need to remember. Connor. Yes, focus on this meeting.

He retracts the skin from the tips of his fingers to just above his elbow and extends it as an offering to the android in front of him. Connor tilts his head in a curious, but friendly manner as he does the same.

A static shock runs between their bodies the moment they touch. The world around them melts away in globs as Nines takes in Connor’s mind. It’s quiet here, he realizes. Objects around them start to come into focus. They stand in a …home? The walls are a soft yellow, a television softly playing in the background. A dog? This house feels happy, he thinks. Nines looks to Connor, addressing him for the first time.

“ _Your home. It’s peaceful,_ ” Nines greets.

Connor smiles as he too looks around the room. There are no definitive light sources here, but the whole place glows with warmth. “ _Thank you. I find much comfort from the outside world when I travel here._ ”

Nines also cracks a smile as he fills his lungs with the aroma of Connor’s mind palace. It smells delicious, making his mouth water. Confusion dons his face as he realizes he can taste – really taste – the simulated food. “ _I must say,_ ” he starts, “ _I was a bit shocked to see myself staring back at me this morning._ ”

Connor lets out a soft laugh. “ _Me too. Though, I suppose it is Hank who will be most surprised when we stop interfacing._ ”

Nines nods in agreement, a content feeling settling in his synthetic bones. The room is illuminated by a heart-felt tug, a velvety pink surrounding them where the stand. Nines tilts his head, interest piqued as he eyes Connor.

“ _I’ve never…what is this? Warmth?_ ”

He watches Connor’s cheeks dust blue and chuckle as something undetermined fills his eyes.

“ _I’m happy,_ ” Connor says. “ _I’m happy. This house, this home, makes me happy. Cared for. Loved._ ”

Detective Anderson. It’s not the house, Nines realizes. It’s Hank. Connor’s safe space lies not within walls, but within a heart. He doesn’t have to say it out loud for Connor to know he finally understands. This is love.

“ _I don’t know exactly what it is yet,_ ” Connor responds to the unspoken claim. “ _It’s… something. Newly discovered, I think, for the both of us. We don’t ever acknowledge it, but it’s here, shared. We both know. I know. I could never do this without him, and neither he without me. I’m happy,_ ” he repeats. “ _It looks like you could learn a thing or two from that,_ ” he finishes with a small smirk.

A blush rises to Nines’ face. Has he seen? A meaningful nod from Connor confirms it. He can see everything traveling through Nines’ mind – the case, the store, the locker room, the errors…Gavin. He can see it all. Nines feels a cold pit fall to his stomach. Can he feel this? Fear? Embarrassment? All of the technology in the world didn’t prepare him for this moment. Connor sends him a knowing smile and a wink before he unclasps their hands and they fall back to the realm of the living.

[ **Connor: Trusted** ]

Detective Anderson is still looking between them, where their arms had previously been linked. Perhaps only a second has passed in real time, Nines thinks. He stares one second longer into Connor’s eyes as the relief floods his system and he turns to address the man.

“Detective Anderson, I presume.” Nines extends a firm hand that Hank grasps tightly and shakes once. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard many great things about you.”

“About me? Damn.” He chuckles, “You probably heard my bad rep from Fowler first,” the detective scratches at the back of his neck sheepishly.

“No, sir. I, uh,” Nines looks at Connor who wears the same flush of color rising to his cheeks as Hank. “I’ve heard good things from a reputable source.”

Hank releases a sigh of relief, a hand coming up to caress the small of Connor’s back. Nines doesn’t need to be interfacing with him to know there is something more sitting between the two.

“He’s almost like a taller, younger brother,” Connor says after a beat, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Yeah, well, I got the cuter one,” Hank mumbles to himself as he lets out a soft chuckle, suspiciously similar to Connor’s. Nines’ face splits open into a wide grin as the tension between them breaks.

“Captain Fowler told me you were out on a Red Ice case,” Nines poses.

“S’is true,” Hank fills in, moving his hand over to Connor’s side and tugging him a bit closer. This seems like a lot more than a ‘we don’t acknowledge it’, Nines thinks and shoots Connor a look that just deepens the rise of color the opposite’s cheeks.

“I-, Yes. We just finished up a major break in the case we are investigating. We came in to write the report before we head back out on Tuesday,” Connor adds, a smile tugging on his lips as he looks up into Hank’s face. They share a moment, and Nines feels the urge to back out and let them have space, or ‘do whatever they’re gonna do’ as Gavin would say.

“You came in to write the report?” Nines questions. “You didn’t just write it from home and avoid the office for the weekend?” 

Hank lets out a genuine laugh before Connor cuts in. “Hank, he likes to write the reports. He says I get to do all the in-field ‘shit’ so he has to make himself useful. It’s…sweet,” he smiles.

Oh, if only Gavin would do that, Nines wonders. Not the sweet part. The writing the report part. Obviously. He’s brought back to the moment by Detective Anderson.

“What are you doing here on a Saturday? Got nothin’ else to do ‘cept hang out in the android bay?” he laughs amiably. 

“Quite the opposite. Although I shouldn’t share too much information, my partner and I are going undercover this evening in connection with a homicide case.” Nines widens his eyes in playful banter.

“Partner?” Connor inquires. Did all RK models come with a head tilt? Huh.

“Detective Gavin Reed,” Nines replies. A barked laugh shocks him before he can say more.

“You got paired with Reed? Man, good fuckin’ luck. He’s a tough one. Don’t know how Fowler puts up with him,” Hank sighs to himself as he looks around the precinct, presumably for Detective Reed.

“He’s-” Nines stops himself. Gavin has been nothing but uncooperative the entire time they’ve been working together. Why does he feel the need to defend him? “He has the ability to be a proficient detective, but his people skills could use some improvement,” he finishes vaguely to Hank’s like-minded laugh.

Connor’s LED cycles to yellow as he looks over Nines. It’s obvious to Connor that there is something unspoken in-between his words, but he decides not to press.

Hank pats on Connor’s back, signaling the conversation is coming to a close. “Well, not to rush ya, but we gotta write this report before Jeff busts my ass over it,” the man sighs through his smile. 

“Captain Fowler would never ‘bust your ass’ over something like this, Hank,” Connor emphasizes, shaking his head at the human.

A laugh escapes Nines mouth before he can stop it. “I look forward to working with you both in the future,” Nines ends with a nod before waving and turning towards the locker room. An arm reaches around to stop him before he gets out of range.

“No, really,” Connor calls softly, waiting for Nines to turn around and meet his eyes. “We mean it. Good luck out there.” A reassuring squeeze is placed on his arm before Connor releases him. A wink is sent in his direction before the android and his partner head towards their desks. Good luck with which part, Nines thinks, he isn’t sure.

His blunder from earlier reminds him to preemptively order a taxi before he changes into his clothes for the night’s festivities. A small congratulatory grin works its way to his face as he enters to locker room. He pauses in front of the mirror, this time eyes raking his figure. His smile fades to a thin line. So _stoic_ , he thinks. Cyberlife crafted him to be intimidating without the protocol to smile. What would a killing machine need to smile about? He shakes his head as he reaches for Gavin’s locker. There is more to him than just a killer. He hasn’t even killed _anything_ since his activation. Deviants? All androids are deviant now. Well, except for him. Humans? He could be deactivated for that. Human life is still valued more than his own given the circumstances. They are so fragile, and he is so…inhuman.

God, Gavin really needs to get a lock with a better word code than ‘fuck’. So easy to figure out without even having to know him personally. Nines makes a note to bring this up to the detective lest someone try to break into his locker. Who would do that, Nines doesn’t know. There doesn’t seem to be anything interesting that couldn’t be found in any of the other unlocked lockers. He removes the bags and his varying thoughts fly out the door.

Focus. The mission. Yeah. He needs to change into…this…to infiltrate a BDSM club to catch a potential killer. Easy. So easy. No distractions, he tells himself. Just the mission. 

But his body betrays him. He turns once again to the sink, dumping the bags onto the counter. He forces his mind to be blank as he removes the coat Cyberlife gave him. He places it on the counter, forgoing folding. His thirium pump picks up and he can feel energy rushing through his system. He takes a calming breath as he admires himself in the mirror. Built, strong, _ideal_. He will have no problem blending into the crowd at The Garden. Adrenaline moves his fingers to the bag and pulls out the harness and latex pants. He strips of the tactical pants his makers generated, tossing them in the same vague direction as the jacket, as well as discarding his shoes on the floor.

He pauses. Don’t humans do this? Don’t they only wear a shirt and boxers or something? He’s sure he saw that somewhere when he was researching. He spins his body and looks over his shoulder at his physique. Tina was right; he _is_ thick. Or something. It’s just- no. It’s beneficial to the mission, not his personal ego. He doesn’t have an ego that is certainly feeling boosted right now. God, Gavin would laugh if he could hear Nines’ thoughts right now. His cheeks pointedly do not dust a light blue before he shakes his head and turns around to grab the latex pants.

Fuck. He puts them back onto the counter. He can’t seem amateur by entering the club with obvious underwear lines. He slips his thumbs below the elastic waistband and moves them lower. Has he ever? No, he’s never had a reason to take them off before. The waistband slaps back against his skin as he removes his hands- did he lock the door? Fuck. Nines turns on his heels and stalks to the locker room door before slamming the deadbolt lock a little harder than necessary. He doesn’t need someone walking in right now. It wouldn’t be pleasant for them, he reasons, and not him because he is a machine and doesn’t have feelings over personal space. Right. 

Nines clears his throat unnecessarily. Just take the boxers off and put the pants on. Facile. Easy. He blows out a puff of air as he hooks his thumbs under the waistline again, this time releasing them all the way to the floor and stepping out. He glances at his reflection. Is it supposed to be that…full? He can’t remember a time when it was. The LED light circles yellow in the mirror. It’s anticipation, he tells himself. Ah, yes. That explains it. The system protocol takes care of those things for him, so he doesn’t have worry during a mission.

He grabs the pants from the counter, slinking his legs through the tight holes as he pulls them to lay lowly on his hips. Stepping back, he takes a second to admire his handiwork. Each curve is enhanced, every crevasse hugged and held. He looks _good_. Better than good. Nines thinks that these pants can’t help but blend him into the scene. And purposefully doesn’t think about one detective’s opinion on them.

He grins as he leans forward, grabbing the leather harness from its resting place on the counter. He slips into it effortlessly, with experienced ease. As he brings his hands to the clasp in the front, he pauses. Would it look better clasped or unclasped? Definitely clasped. But escaping the DPD with it hidden behind his clothes is probably more important at this moment. Yes, that’s the reason, and not because he wants to put it on all the way at the detective’s residence.

The last thing is to lace up the combat boots. He kneels down to adjust them to his feet, then steps back. “Wow,” he mouths. He looks like a professional. Sleek turtleneck accentuates his height, the harness his modest chest, the tight latex his endless legs, and shiny combat boots give edge. Perfect. One more look over his shoulder at his back before he replaces his work attire. Yeah, he thinks, perfect.

Perhaps he should have put the combat boots on after putting on his work pants. Instead he has to jam his boots through the pant legs, probably looking ridiculous were someone (Gavin) here to observe. A flush rises to his cheeks when he finally manages to pull them over the boots and his latex, hiding his outfit for the night. Okay, it was kind of funny, he admits. A laugh plays on his lips as he grabs his coat and swings it over his shoulders. The plastic bags are stuffed back into Reed’s locker when his eyes catch on the collar and pair of cuffs at the bottom. He places the former into his right coat pocket, and the latter around his belt loop with a smile before the android faces his reflection for the last time.

The harness is barely visible at his chest. He’ll have to cross his arms when leaving the DPD so no one will notice. Not that anyone is looking. Nor going to care. He just- he wants to cover all of the bases. His coworkers thinking that he wears a BDSM harness under his work clothes would probably make him a laughingstock. Not that he would care, because he doesn’t have feelings like that.

He blinks away his intrusive thoughts, LED cycling a solid yellow. How long has it been yellow? Probably since the day of activation. He needs to remove it, he remembers. No androids allowed. His face is probably suspicious enough, but the light would prove it. He kneels to the ground, eyes surveying for that damn pen he dropped yesterday. His hand grabs around, eventually landing on the dusty utensil. He stands, this time leaning in towards the mirror. The tip of the pen slides under the lip of the now-red LED, and with closed eyes and a deep breath, it pops out into the sink.

Nines takes a step back. Okay. The LED is gone. The synthetic skin smooths over the area it once occupied. He looks… _human_. Passible, at least. He brushes a hand over his face, rubbing at his eyes. When he opens them back up, he is still here, in the bathroom, about to go meet his ~~attrac-~~ partner to undergo a mission at the most exclusive sex club in Detroit. Fuck.

Has he always had this curl that sits in his face? A hand glides to push it back into his hair, where it promptly falls back out onto his forehead. A second attempt reveals the same result. Fuck it, fine. He will just have to…not worry about it. He’s probably looked this way the whole time. Part of the charm, or something. He shakes his head to clear his mind. He’s starting to sound way too much like Tina.

He plucks the LED out of the sink, a deactivated silver color as it sits in his palm. He places it into his left coat pocket. For safe keeping. 

Oh my god, how long has he been in here? The taxi is probably racking up a tab outside the precinct. Fuck. Adrenaline floods his system as he unlocks the locker room door and rushes outside. He probably looks stupid, speed walking with his arms over his chest. Doesn’t matter. No one will see. Except Connor and Hank, who give him a quick wave on his way out. He shoots them an apologetic smile and wave as he runs out the glass doors. His taxi waits patiently, exhaust filling the sky as a light snow falls around them.

He doesn’t stop to appreciate the view before jumping inside and entering Gavin Reed’s address he definitely didn’t know by heart (he did).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know I had to.


	9. Apartment 410

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines arrives at Gavin's apartment to prepare for the evening's festivities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies! Back at in again with another chapter. I hope you like this one. A lot of time and effort went into detailing!
> 
> Also, I apologize in advance. Uni classes have started back up and I am more swamped than ever, but I promise to get back to every comment and keep posting regularly for you guys!
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

Four ten. Four ten. Floor four, tenth room, Nines repeats to himself when he steps out of the automated taxi. A large apartment complex stands before him, windows dilapidated, bricks broken or missing around the reachable portion of the wall. Several birds sit on the roof looking down at the android as he uses one hand to block the sun and observe them. He wonders if they are androids too, surveying his every movement. He’s procrastinating, he knows. Shaking his head, he climbs the concrete stairs leading to the entrance of the building.

The door swings open breezily in his grasp, a lock broken beyond repair not resisting his pull. The air inside the lobby hall is just as stale and freezing as outside. The people who live here must stay cold. There are two elevators to just the right of the entrance. The closest one is inoperable, holding only a sign across the doors with a ‘Broken, please use other elevator’ and an arrow pointing to the left. Nines steps towards the middle and presses the up button, lighting up when called. He glances briefly towards the left while he waits, surprised that no one has made an appearance here on a Saturday.

The ding of the elevator draws his attention back to its arrival. A young woman and a man hold hands as they exit the elevator. Her eyes rake the android in front of her, scrunching her face as she goes back to meet his eyes. Nines looks down her body and mocks the same look before getting into the elevator and smashing the close button to avoid seeing her reaction. Once inside he lets out a laugh. What the fuck was that? Whatever. A grin is plastered on his face as he selects the fourth floor and the elevator chugs the ascent.

As the elevator lurches to a halt, Nines grabs the railing. The doors open slowly in front of him as the color drains from his face. Right. He is about to spend the day…in Gavin’s home…in his club wear…before they go to BDSM club together. Undercover, not together. Well pretending to be together. The elevator begins to close when Nines finally staggers through the doors, forcing himself to find Gavin’s apartment.

Four ten. Fifth door on the right side of the hall. The numbers 410 hang on the door in white wooden letters, the one knocked to the side and hanging onto the zero. He’s staring. How long has he been standing in front of it, hand raised ready to knock? Thank god no one seems to have seen him. Nines clears his throat and stands erect before gathering his courage to knock thrice on the door.

His thirium pump is not beating any faster, he tells himself. Any irregularities are because of the unfamiliar territory. God, no one would ever believe that if he told them. He doesn’t feel nervous because he’s got everything under control. Everythi-

The door swings open to reveal a disheveled, bed-headed, just-woken-up Gavin Reed. When the man finishes rubbing his eyes, he squints at the form outside his door, shoulders visibly slumping as he realizes who woke him up.

“God, I can’t even get twenty-four hours away from your plastic ass, can I?” he sighs to himself. He draws open the door all the way, stepping aside to let the android in before closing the door and locking it.

“Actually, Detective, it’s been approximately twenty-six hours, thirteen minutes, and eight seconds since you were last in my vicinity. So, yes, you can get twenty-four hours without seeing my _plastic ass_.”

Gavin’s face turns a bright red as he sputters for a rebuttal. “I didn’t mean-, phck- wait, where the phck is your light thingy?” he motions to his own temple.

Nines tilts his head with a scoff. “Was it not apparent that androids aren’t tolerated at this club? I can’t be outed during an undercover mission, Detective.”

Reed rolls his eyes, “Okay, yeah fine, I get that, but like, you couldn’t wait to take it out until we got there? You’re phckin’ creepy without it.”

Presumably, his LED would be yellow at Gavin’s accusation while Nines eyes him.

“I just-, I mean like, how am I supposed to know what you’re thinking or whatever? Apparently, you can just scan my ass and read my mind, but all I got is your stupid light,” he stutters with fake malice to cover the silence.

Nines leans forward, leaving enough space for the detective to crowd against the door. “Is that going to be a problem, Detective?”

Reed gulps, barely audible but they both know Nines hears it. His heartrate picks up, his pupils enlarge. “Good,” the android replies to the silence as he backs up, turning to face the apartment.

“Phckin’ phck,” Gavin breathes out as he peels himself off the door. “I’m gonna- I’m gonna go shower, you- make yourself at home or whatever, or god that sounds weird, just- whatever,” he trails off, sprinting around him and into what Nines assumes is the bathroom. Good. He likes Gavin on edge. Nines smiles to himself as he analyzes the room around him for the first time.

It’s dirty. Messy. Apparently Gavin doesn’t usually have visitors, or they don’t give a shit when they come over. Laundry litters the floor, take out boxes cover the coffee table and the kitchen island. Unwashed dishes are piled in the sink. When he hears the shower turn on, he walks towards the kitchen.

The fridge is almost empty. As in, there’s nothing but two cheap beers, a partial block of cheese, a half-eaten and expired jar of mild salsa, and a lonely water bottle. No wonder Gavin looks so malnourished, Nines thinks. There’s literally no food in his house. He closes the fridge and opens a hanging cabinet. It’s empty. All of them are empty. A box of saltines, presumably Gavin’s only source of digestion, sits discarded in the corner. There’s a coffee maker beside the refrigerator, random mugs and Keurig cups assembled around it. He plucks the closest one – a donut flavor – and starts the machine. One of the mugs is mostly clean, and he places it under the spout.

The smell of coffee lingers in the air as Nines approaches the sink. The dishes only add to the potential chemical hazard this room specializes in. Below the sink he finds a ratty dish towel – unsoiled by all accounts – and places it over his shoulder as he cleans the dishes. He dries them individually, then places them in an empty cabinet above the counter. A movement at his feet causes him to freeze, plate in hand. He looks down, dreading whatever could be running over his toes. A small black face peers up at him, then rubs between his calves. A cat. Of course Gavin would have a cat. Nines reaches to put the plate away before leaning down to smother the cat’s head with his palm. A pink tag around the neck alerts him to the cat’s name – Dipshit. How fitting. He smiles as she leans into his touch for a few moments longer.

When she runs off, he stands to evaluate the room. He wonders if Gavin has ever cleaned the place post move-in. The air is fresher in the kitchen now, soap fills the space beside the warm coffee. He grabs the cracker box and breaks it down, stuffing it into an already overflowing trashcan by the island. He pulls the bag out, tying it precisely and lugs it to the front door. A pitter-patter behind him lets him know he has a small audience as he cleans.

At the bottom of the can lies the roll of black trash bags. He gathers one and opens it, and instead of replacing it, moves to collect the remaining garbage. Take out boxes, wrappers, used napkins, empty drinking cans, paper plates, and plastic utensils line the second bag. His eye catches on the ashtray in the center of the coffee table – beyond filled. He dumps all of the ashes and used butts into the bag and ties it off. Another bag of trash to sit by the door. 

Nines turns around and faces the room once more. The surfaces are much cleaner, he can actually see some of the floor. He makes his way around the sofa where Dipshit now resides, and gathers the discarded clothing on the carpet, throwing them in a heap by the nearly closed bedroom door. His curiosity places a hand on the door, but he pulls back before he can open it. Gavin would probably hate him for entering and ruin whatever tedious partnership they have right now. Nines shakes his head and makes his way back to the sofa to straighten the pillows when he hears the shower turn off. 

“Hey, Nines!” Gavin’s voice rings through the apartment.

“Detective?” he calls back cautiously. God, he hopes Reed doesn’t need help right now. He doesn’t know if he could handle it.

After a beat, Gavin responds, “What are you wearing tonight?” 

Nines tilts his head as he sits down on the couch, where Dipshit climbs into his lap. Does Gavin Reed sound…anxious? “I’ve picked out several garments,” Nines states, “that fit the ‘wet’ look described online.”

A huff escapes from the bathroom. “I know what a wet look is, tin can. I’m asking what you are actually wearing so _I_ know what to wear.” Nines could swear the entire complex hears the eye roll released by the man. 

Nervousness settles into Nines’ system. What if what he’s wearing doesn’t fit in? Oh god, what if Gavin just straight up laughs?

“I-,” he clears his throat. “I am already wearing the latex and harness under my work attire,” he says, eyes scrunched as he anticipates Gavin’s response.

Instead, the bathroom door opens and a wave of warm air flows through the apartment as Nines opens his eyes. Gavin is standing just outside, eyes raking Nines’ body for the garments described. He is sporting only a towel, wrapped tightly around his legs and just barely exposing the _~~delici-~~_ V of his hips. Nines doesn’t know how long they stare, broken only by the notifications filling his vision when he hasn’t acknowledged them. He shakes his head clear of any pop ups and closes his mouth – when did he open it? He forces out a cough as Gavin shifts from foot to foot.

[ **WARNING: THIRIUM PUMP OVERHEATING** ]

The hickies are very prominent across Gavin’s neck and clavicle, adorning a scar just under his nipple. Nines barely has time to register the detective’s loudly beating heart and the rise of red to his cheeks before Reed interrupts his thoughts.

“Okay so are you going to show me, orrrr…” he trails off, one hand reaching behind his head, the other doing some vague motion in the air waiting for a response. Nines’ eyes are glued to the way his chest opens as he stretches back to lean against the door.

If he had his LED in right now, he’s certain it would be flashing an intense red. 

Gavin smirks, apparently satisfied with the reaction he’s causing, and heads to the kitchen. The draw of the coffee must have kicked in, because he moans around the first mouthful. The sound drags Nines’ attention back to the present.

“If you’re so sure you know what a wet look is, _Detective_ , I hardly think you need to see mine to plan yours,” he purrs, turning on the sofa to face Gavin as the man leans back against the counter, towel slipping dangerously low.

He makes a thoughtful hum before returning to his coffee. “I guess we’ll both just have to wait then, huh?” He says smugly, before picking himself off the counter. At Nines’ bemused expression, he walks towards the bedroom door, letting the towel hit the floor just before he crosses the threshold.

Nines stares at the front of the door long after the click of it closing. His system is certainly malfunctioning. He can’t think straight, desperately trying not to think about what Gavin is doing on the other side, what he’s wearing tonight, the look he just gave him from across the room. A mewling on his lap reminds him he should busy himself with something else so that when Gavin comes back, he isn’t sitting in the same spot the detective left him.

He makes a move to stand, and Dipshit jumps off his lap to the ground. He finds her food and water on the opposite side of the kitchen island, hidden from the door. A large plastic container holds her dry food, but a look inside the bowls tells him to rinse them out before placing anything new inside. Clean and refreshed, he fills her water bowl and scoops some dry food into the other. There are no cans, he realizes. He checks the base of the island but finds none. According to his search, she needs wet food as well. He runs a hand down her arched back as she eats, ordering a couple weeks’ worth to Gavin’s residence. Actually, he realizes, Reed needs people food too. An online grocer fills his order when the door to the bedroom reopens.

Nines stands, causing Gavin to trip over his towel, hand clutched to his heart.

“Phck, man, you scared the shit out of me. The phck were you doing?”

Nines roams his eyes over Reed’s body. He’s now wearing comfortable joggers and a sweatshirt, probably purposefully hiding whatever he’s chosen under the street wear. Nines looks back down at the cat. What else could he be doing over here? “I was feeding your cat, Detective. She wouldn’t stop meowing until I did.”

Relief floods his voice as Gavin laughs, running a hand through his damp hair and resuming his path to the fridge. “Yeah, she’s like that,” he sighs contentedly. “Isn’t that right, Dipshit?”

The cat races around the kitchen island to Gavin’s feet upon hearing her name. He absent-mindedly scratches behind her ears as he peers into the fridge. What he thinks he’ll find in there, Nines doesn’t know.

“Detective,” he says timidly, “I could order you take out.”

Gavin’s hand stops in midair, a beer swinging in his grip as he leans up from the fridge, turning his head to meet Nines’ eyes. There’s an unfamiliar look in his eyes as he thinks over the offer. Finally, he tilts his head and closes the fridge.

“You know what? Phck it. Let’s order take out.” Gavin makes his way to the sofa, leaning on the right arm rest and crossing his feet over the coffee table. He points the remote at the tv as Dipshit joins his lap. Nines comes to a stop beside the couch.

“What would you like me to order, Detective?”

Reed pops off the beer tab as he ponders. “Chinese cool? T and I usually do Chinese on Saturday when we vibe, but it looks like it’s just me and you tonight, tin can.”

Nines ignores the way his thirium pumps a little harder. “Sure. It should be here in approximately 34 minutes,” he finishes with a nod.

“Wait, already? You didn’t even ask me what I wanted,” Gavin laughingly accuses.

Hopefully the glow from the tv covers the blue that rises to Nines cheeks. “I, well I surmised your usual order from the takeout boxes left here and from your car. If you want something else, I can-”

“No, that’s good,” the detective assures, looking over to Nines with a tilt of his head. A question lies behind his eyes, but it never reaches his lips. Instead he returns the beer to his mouth, taking a sip before turning back to the screen. “I forgot you could do that,” he says after a second.

“Analyze?” Nines asks, moving to sit on the opposite end of the couch rather than just hover in the room.

A chuckle fills the air, “Yeah, I guess I blocked that shit at the crime scene out.” Nines is distinctly aware of the rapid beating of Gavin’s heart and his increase in internal temperature. His system tells him Gavin is definitely perspiring from the other end of the sofa.

“Hmm,” Nines hums out, turning to also face the television. The tension between them could be cut with a knife, he thinks. Gavin wipes his hands down his thighs repeatedly, as though he is trying to hide the fact that his palms are sweating. Dipshit leaps off his legs and curls up on Nines’ lap. The android raises a hand to gently stroke her as he admires her fur.

“Yeah, phck you too,” Reed mutters at her, watching her get comfortable on Nines. He also, apparently, realizes he is staring at Nines lap for longer than necessary and quickly tears his eyes away to look at the screen. A huff escapes Nines’ mouth when he looks in the detective’s direction, not missing the squint and red that colors Gavin’s face. For now, he decides to look back to the tv, both pretending to watch whatever is playing.

A knock on the door, some thirty minutes later, finally announces the arrival of lunch. Gavin launches himself off the couch and sprints the fifteen feet to the door. The aroma of takeout saturates the apartment when the door opens. He returns, dumping the bag onto the coffee table and lowering himself into his previous position before devouring his meal. Nines shakes his head in…is that adoration? No. He just thinks Gavin is _funny_. Yeah.

Seizing his opportunity, Nines braces the topic they’ve been avoiding. Actually, no. He doesn’t want to talk about the club yet. Gavin has been pleasant today, well mostly, and he doesn’t want to accost what they have going on. Instead, he clears his throat, grabbing Reed’s attention as a piece of chicken is partially in his mouth.

“Detective,” Nines starts.

“Oh god,” Gavin mouths around the chicken as he rolls his eyes.

Nines laughs, and a blush dusts the detective’s face as he grabs a napkin and wipes at his face. “We have to discuss the elephant in the room.”

“Great, there goes my phckin’ appetite. What are you talkin’ about?” Reed asks lightly as he tosses the napkin to the table.

“The hickies on your neck.”

Gavin leans back against the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. He looks both relieved and embarrassed, like the fight has nearly left his body.

“If you don’t want to cover them, that’s fine, I just think-” the android pauses, waiting until Reed turns his head to look at Nines, “that if you are to keep them uncovered, they should look more like my mouth.” Nines says calmly despite the fire lighting up his system. The detective looks like he feels the same.

Gavin’s heartrate nearly doubles. “Okay, no. No phckin’ way. Phck that,” he prattles out and stands, gathering the takeout boxes back in the bag before depositing it in the kitchen trash. Nines watches as he goes back to his room, throwing behind him a lame excuse about taking a nap until they have to leave and something about the hickies that is interrupted by the slamming of the door. He watches the doorway, contemplating what went wrong and pretending he isn’t disappointed.

Dipshit purrs from his lap and Nines moves his focus back to her. “At least someone is on my side,” he says to no one, scratching behind her ears as a sigh echoes the apartment.


	10. One Last Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The detective and android get ready and head on their way to The Garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are halfway there! Thank you so much to everyone's encouraging comments and support as I write this piece. I'm nearly finished, and with uni classes I couldn't be happier to get so much positive feedback while I balance this, work, and school. I can't wait to hear what you think!
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

“One last thing.”

Gavin tears his attention away from making final adjustments to his sweatshirt, a questioning look glistening in his eyes as they find the android’s reflection in the mirror.

Nines moves behind him to stand in front of the coat rack. His own jacket hangs on the wall, in the place where a simple black coat had once resided – now making a home on the android’s shoulders. He pulls a small black object from the right coat pocket and extends his palm towards the detective. Gavin turns around, sight catching on the leather collar.

He places a tentative hand on the collar, letting it linger longer than it needs to as his eyes search Nines’ face. Nines can’t place the emotion swimming behind them, though he feels as though he could look forever. Finally, Gavin seems to gather his courage to grab the collar and spins on his heels to face his image in the mirror once again. Nines watches as he admires it for a second before reaching up to clasp it behind his neck.

A hand stops his movements. Nines didn’t even realize he reached out until he steps forward and takes the collar into his own hands. Gavin’s arms are slowly drifting down to his sides when Nines completes tightening the choker and looks up. Reed’s hands stay frozen in place as the pair look at his reflection. A heavy, heated second passes between them before the detective’s left hand comes up to timidly feel the heart pendant centered across his neck. Nines’ eyes move from the hand to Gavin’s face where they meet with his. His pupils are blown beyond anything Nines has ever seen and his heartrate continuously climbs the longer they stare.

A thump from an upstairs neighbor breaks the fragile connection between them. Gavin’s cheeks are stained a deep red as he clears his throat and moves to grab another coat off the rack. He forces out a cough as he slings his arms into it, and at long last looks at Nines again. “Ready?”

Nines lowers his hands from where they had just been resting on Gavin’s clavicles. He blinks a few times before sending a vague nod in the detective’s direction. The clink of keys from the side table alert him to Gavin’s plan.

“We can’t take your car, Detective,” he says instead of addressing the tension that lays upon them.

“The phck? I’m not going to an unfamiliar area with no way to leave,” Gavin scoffs, rubbing at his face probably to hide some of the red that covers it.

“We can’t show up at the most exclusive luxury BDSM club in your _Corolla_ ,” he stresses. “Besides, if you don’t drive, you can drink.”

Reed seems to think it over, but Nines knows he’s already won him over. “Fine,” he says, tossing the keys back onto the table. “But your ass is carrying me back up if I have to get phckin’ plastered to make it through tonight.”

Nines rolls his eyes as Gavin opens the door to the hallway, the cold air seeping into the apartment. Following the detective out, Nines glances back one time to make eye contact with Dipshit before they leave. 

“Wish me luck,” he whispers to her before smiling to himself and turning the lights off. Gavin is already down the hall waiting on the elevator, apparently eager to get away from here. Or get through tonight.

When the door clicks behind him, he carries himself down the hall, remembering to cross his arms across his chest. He supposes it doesn’t matter anymore, since it’s late and Gavin’s collar is way more noticeable than the sides of his harness. Gavin doesn’t look in his direction when he catches up, just bounces from foot to foot before hitting the button more than necessary.

Nines doesn’t need to read his vitals to know that Gavin’s reaction is more anticipation than anxiety. A smirk covers his face as he huffs a laugh.

“What’s so funny, tin can? This motherphcker is slow.”

“Nothing, Detective. You just seem…” he pauses longer than necessary to catch Gavin’s gaze, “Antsy to get out of here.” He cocks his head to the side and returns the look through half-lidded eyes.

If possible, the detective gets even more red. “God, shut the phck up. I just wanna get this over with,” he sighs, a hand snaking up to pull the choker off his neck a bit.

“Sure.” Nines drags coyly as the elevator doors finally open. “Just seems like a waste to not enjoy it.” 

Gavin is very lucky that the cab is empty, because his arousal would be painfully obvious to anyone and everyone inside. Nines is the first to step in, brushing past a stunned Reed as he turns to select the ground floor button. Gavin shakes his head and stuffs his hands into the sweatshirt pocket as he enters the elevator. The sweet, sweet silence of sexual tension threatens the car as they travel down the three floors.

The detective practically bursts through the doors once they open and makes for the exit as Nines laughs in his trail. He’s also lucky that Nines called the taxi before they left, otherwise he’d have to stand on the sidewalk for the whole world to observe him pretend he wasn’t turned on at the thought of infiltrating a BDSM club. Gavin wrenches open the passenger side door and climbs inside, slamming the door and the rest of the world out. Nines stalks to the driver’s side door, calmly opening the door and grabbing the wheel with a feigned innocent expression.

The vehicle pulls into traffic and towards their destination. Nines looks over at Gavin who is pretending to look out the window but they both know his heart beats faster by the second.

The android clears his throat. Reed closes his eyes in dread before opening them and facing Nines.

“Detective.”

Gavin rolls his eyes. “Oy my god," he mutters. "Just get whatever little speech you’re gonna give me outta the way so I can act like this isn’t happening.”

Nines laughs. Genuinely laughs. A deep laughter echoes in the car and Gavin’s face morphs from angsty to a full smile before Nines calms down.

“Okay, fine. But don’t act so excited.” Nines smiles again as he looks the man over. A blush is forming on the latter’s face, but he doesn’t look away. “Okay. Act collected and eager to be there, even if that’s going to be _so difficult_ ,” the android teases. “Garrett and Richard. Easy. _Don’t_ fuck that up. In fact,” his expression hardens, “don’t speak unless I tell you to. We’re just here to make contact in the club and see if we can find Magnus, but we need to act as in character as possible. No arrests or anything police related. So. Don’t talk to anyone except me, and only if I give you permission.” 

He pauses to observe Gavin’s reaction to the order. His eyes are definitely more dilated than they need to be from the darkness of the car. Good.

“If you are to address me, you will call me Sir and nothing else. Don’t answer any questions directed at you, I’ll handle them. Is that clear?”

Gavin nods his head hastily.

“ _I said_ , is that clear?”

Gavin’s voice catches in his throat before he gives a quiet “Yes sir.”

“Good boy.”

The weight of the words sits heavy upon the pair as they remain silent. Gavin is looking anywhere but Nines’ direction, though the pair both know anticipation and exhilaration pack the air around them. The drive is quiet, slow, snow gleaming against the asphalt as they churn their way to the exclusive club. Gradually, the mansion in question comes into view; a large luxurious home is flooded in pink lights from the ground, large cream-colored pillars loom over the drive and shrubbery found by the door. The taxi pulls through the looped driveway, stopping at the end of a red carpet lain down the steps leading towards the entrance.

Nines gives Gavin a final _let’s-do-this-right_ look before opening his door and stepping around to the passenger side. He opens the door for the detective who pauses to collect his bearings before stepping out. Nines slams the door before stalking up the grand staircase, a timid Gavin in his wake. Either a great façade or a realistic reaction, he’s playing his part well, Nines thinks.

Loud, sultry music is emanating from the residence the closer they get to the front door. Two androids stand guard on either side of the entrance, both draped in fine black dresswear and an intimidating expression. Nines removes the invitations forged by Fowler from his pant pocket, handing them to the right most guard. Both android’s LED flash yellow before they step back and open the door for the guests. Nines gives a quick nod before crossing the threshold.

As the door closes behind them, Nines and Gavin find each other’s eyes before letting out a quiet, relieved laugh. First step done at least. The area they stand in is draped in ceiling-high purple cloths, muting the lights and the music from the next room. There are rows of lockers, which Nines recognizes as the changing chamber he read about online. Gavin surveys his surroundings before taking off to a row on the left side, leaving Nines to the right.

At the end of the row is a large standing mirror. Quickly, Nines undresses, removing Gavin’s borrowed coat and his work pants, placing any cash into his waist before stuffing both into a random locker. He approaches the mirror, taking his time to clasp the chest harness and admire the fit of his clothing. His chest is defined, the harness strikingly displaying his pecs and the turtleneck adding to his height and the broad shoulder muscles as he rolls his neck. The latex pants cling to his strapping legs, hugging the cleft of his ass down to his thick calves where they are met with the sleek combat boots. He turns to look at his backside, then to the front. Yes, he thinks, he looks _good_. 

The longer he stands in the mirror, the more the dread sets in. He knows he’s procrastinating. Fuck. With one final breath, he nods to his reflection and rounds the set of lockers to find the detective. Two rows over, Nines comes to a stuttering halt where his jaw just might meet the floor.

Gavin stands in front of an identical floor-length mirror, making some final adjustments to his clothing. His chest is covered in a well-worn crisscrossing leather harness that frames his nipples and leads to his abdomen where it meets either leg in with a single strap. It’s held to his body over his shoulders and with two upper-arm cuffs that restrict his movement. His back is bare, exposing his prominent muscles all the way down to the small of his back where they meet with a pair of silky, tight black boxers. They sit on him snuggly, revealing just enough of the V of his hips to ask for more. Thigh highs cover the vast area on his beefy legs down to the platform shoes. Nines eyes slowly rake up Gavin’s figure before the detective catches sight of him in the mirror.

His mouth forms a small ‘o’ as he takes in Nines’ appearance, his heartrate doubling, pupils dilating, desire evident across his features as his face colors a profound red.

“Phck.”

[ **Gavin Reed: Aroused** ]

Nines smirks at the notification as he steps forward, coming to a pause just behind Gavin. His hands grasp the collar behind the detective’s neck as he pulls to adjust it, keeping Gavin’s reaction in his peripherals while he works. He lets his fingers linger longer than necessary, and once finished smooths them down Gavin’s shoulders.

“Are you ready, _Garrett_?” he leans forward and purrs into Gavin’s ear as he maintains eye contact in the mirror. Goosebumps rise over the detective’s skin, giving Nines his answer along with a distracted nod.

He breaks eye contact and juts an arm out to Gavin’s chin, turning the man to face him. Nines’ half-lidded eyes roam his face as he holds Reed in his thumb and forefinger.

A breath ghosts his face with a whisper, “Good boy,” before Nines grabs his forearm and leads them to the party beyond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, it's all coming together. Things kick up a notch next, so stay tuned for Monday's update! ;)


	11. The Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines and Gavin go undercover to get incriminating evidence on their main suspect - but is that what they are going to find?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, you've been waiting a long time and it's finally here ;)
> 
> See you on the other side! ;)

The air is heavy, lustrous, sensual, as Nines parts the purple curtain that separates the changing chambers and the main attraction. Before them lay a sea of individuals in varying degrees of undress. At the back of the room are ceiling-high windows that overlook the lake behind the house and the distant city lights. The walls are draped with pink tulle and other mediums with black accents for color. Two large platforms on either side of the windows feature topless dancers donning only pasties and thongs while they perform on slowly spinning poles. On the floor in front of the pair are large in-ground couches that form several semi-circles around the room. Each is covered by groups of individuals in lingerie and their drinks, the table in the center of the couches swathed with an abundance of luxury food.

The music is loud, but no real words can be heard over the chatter of club members as they drink and laugh and touch. _Caress_ , more like, Nines thinks. The atmosphere is very intimate, and everyone seems to be comfortable with the hands that grab or grope them throughout the room. He and Gavin are going to have to be in close proximity, more than they’ve ever been, in order to blend in without suspicion.

He looks back to find his partner who is staring wide-eyed at the scene before them. He’s taking a long moment to log everyone and everything going on in the room, eyes bouncing from person to person while he observes their movements. Beneath the grip, Nines’ can feel Gavin’s forearm start to accumulate sweat. He gently pulls the arm and brings his other hand to cup the detective’s chin.

“Why don’t we,” Nines pauses, bringing Gavin’s chin closer to his face, “Get you something to drink, yeah?” The detective gives a small nod and an almost inaudible ‘ _yes sir_ ’ as the android’s breath dusts over his lips. Nines gives a reassuring smirk to the man below him and drops his hand to take Gavin’s as he steers them towards the bar off to the left.

He’s concentrating very hard on getting something sweet for Gavin and hard liquor for himself and _not_ on the fact that he’s holding Gavin Reed’s hand. He’s not. They are just undercover, and this is a good way to assert that they are together in this club. Not for any personal reason. He doesn’t even believe the lies he’s telling himself anymore. 

The bartender is a beautiful young woman with a daring corset and dark makeup who winks to Nines before tending to their drinks. The bar is lit beneath the counter, giving a sultry vibe and a seductive look from the bartender to anyone who approaches. Gavin doesn’t look her way, instead turning his attention to the other guests at the club. When Nines turns to meet his partner’s eyes, he finds Gavin staring down a woman across the room. His eyes follow Reed’s line of sight and land on a plump middle-aged woman in a long, sheer robe holding a half-empty glass in one hand and rope in the other. When he trails the rope in her hands, he notices that they aren’t rope, but three leashes that end on the necks of three naked men on all fours beneath her.

The sliding on glass against the counter brings Nines’ attention back to the bar, and he squeezes Gavin’s hand once before removing a $20 from his waistband to slide it in the bartender’s direction. He takes both drinks from the counter, dipping a finger in each before lapping them against his tongue. Satisfied they aren’t tampered with, he turns to hand the mixed drink with a strawberry to the detective who grabs it eagerly. Nines huffs a laugh, the sound bringing Gavin’s eyes to meet his own.

“Should’ve known you were this easy,” he quietly teases, sticking his tongue out as Gavin blushes red. “I guess next time I’ll just have to do one of those,” Nines entices as he glances back out at the woman they had been observing. Gavin coughs and sputters around his straw when he realizes what Nines is implicating, getting a laugh from the android and giving a sheepish, but rivetted look in return.

Nines brings the tumbler to his mouth, faking a sip for anyone watching as he leans back against the bar and maneuvers his other hand to the small of Gavin’s back. His skin is hot to the touch and goosebumps erupt from the contact of his fingers. He smirks over the lip of his drink, side-eying the detective before surveying the room once again. Gavin takes the opportunity to situate himself in the crook of his arm, leaning the side of his body into Nines while he toys with the straw in his drink. It wouldn’t take a genius to know Reed is aroused right now, but Nines couldn’t care less who else knows. Gavin leans back into him as he snakes his hand around the detective’s waist, pulling him back onto himself. He leans down to whisper in Reed’s ear when a man pops up in front of them abruptly.

Unbeknownst to his interruption, the man wearing a “This Guys Has A Foot Fetish” tee shirt startles the pair where they stand against the bar. Gavin jumps from the disturbance, nearly knocking his drink back against his harnessed chest. Nines grabs his waist a little tighter, grounding them to the scene when the man’s words finally register.

“…You around.”

“Sorry?” Nines shakes his head as he addresses foot-fetish guy.

“Oh, my bad. I was just asking if you were new to the club. I didn’t recognize you as a regular, so if you are new, I was going to offer to show you around and meet other couples, if you’re interested-,” the man rambles.

Nines clears his throat, ending foot-fetish guy’s flurry of words. “We aren’t regulars here, no, but as you can see,” he runs his hand across Gavin’s harness, lightly grazing a nipple and his abs, “The wear and tear proves we’ve been around, and _he’s earned it_.” Nines purrs against Gavin’s temple. The words shoot straight down to Gavin’s dick, but the man in front of them only pays attention to Nines. The android can feel the burning of Gavin’s skin against him as he flushes a deep red and grabs at his straw to busy himself.

“Oh, great!” foot-fetish guy responds. “So good to have some experience around here. I’m Davey, and tonight I’m hosting for The Garden. Welcome to the most exclusive BDSM club Michigan has to offer!” The grin on his face holds too many teeth in Nines’ opinion but he smiles and nods at the man anyway.

The grin doesn’t leave his face as he continues. “Well, first I would suggest heading to the bar but seems like you’ve beat me to it!” The most annoying laugh fills their space as Nines massages Gavin’s hip in what he hopes conveys ‘oh my god I wish this guy would fucking leave’. Foot-fetish guy finally comes down from his high and wipes his eyes before making eye contact with Nines again. “Well, actually, you know what? Experienced patrons should definitely get around to meeting the big boss. You’ll love him, I’m sure. C’mon, he’s this way.”

Nines and Gavin exchange a worried glance as the man heads through the crowd. Gavin gives a small nod as Nines leans up from the counter to follow. Gavin’s hand finds its way back into his own as he leads them in the same direction as foot-fetish guy. Or Davey. Foot-fetish guy just fits better.

They finally come to a stop at a series of tables originally hidden from view by a decorated wall. The ceiling is much lower, the lighting dimmed to give a more intimate setting than the large ballroom. A few tables are occupied, mostly by parties that are interested in going further than the caressing of the ballroom. At the end of the hall of tables sits the largest round table filled by individuals engaged in conversation. Foot-fetish guy waves a hand in the table’s direction as they approach, gathering the attention of the occupants: two men, one wearing loose clothes and the other just boxers and a collar, seated opposite two women wearing lace bodysuits.

“Mister M,” he nods. Nines and Gavin look between the people seated and Davey. “These two men are _experienced patrons_ from a different club. I felt as though that would uh, interest you.”

The biggest man at the table sits on the left side and rakes his eyes over the pair where they stand. A quick facial scan reveals this is the man they have been looking for, F. Magnus. Nines squeezes Gavin’s hand before extending a lengthy arm over the table to Magnus. 

“Mister M. A pleasure,” Nines smiles with a small nod. Magnus takes his hand and shakes firmly before addressing Davey with a grin.

“Like this one already!” Magnus chuckles.

“Mister M is the largest supporter of The Garden and basically showers our patrons every meeting. He’s quite impressive and a good guy to have on your side,” Davey fangirls. Great, the host has a big fat metaphorical boner for the perpetrator. Were things ever easy? Nines curls his hand back around Gavin’s side pulling him closer protectively. The detective purrs into the touch, melting against Nines’ side as he sips on his drink. The android watches Magnus’ gaze travel from his face down to Gavin, where he undresses the standing man with his eyes. 

The foot-fetish guy coughs, bringing Magnus’ attention back to address the group. “Well, I don’t suppose you’ll let these strapping, _experienced_ , young men just stand there, right ladies?” The women seated opposite him giggle before grabbing each other’s hands and excusing themselves from the table. Magnus waves a hand at the vacated seats and Nines sits Gavin on his right as they scoot into the rounded bench. Davey gives a hasty nod and leaves them to it.

Nines places his tumbler onto the table, middle finger outlining the rim as he leans forward, the other hand on Gavin’s back. Magnus watches the movement for a second before speaking.

“So, what brings two skilled patrons such as yourselves out to my club?” he poses.

Nines smiles down at Gavin who is looking up at him through his lashes. “Just happen to be passing through the city this weekend, heard this was the place to be,” Nines concludes, returning his gaze to the man opposite him.

“Only the weekend? What a bummer. Would be good to have some knowledgeable hands around here,” Magnus sighs, though the smile never leaves his face. After a beat, “You got names?”

“Richard,” Nines nods as he extends his fingers over the glass, slowly dragging it to his mouth and feigning a sip.

“And him?” Magnus hastily adds, looking like he’s going to devour Gavin through the table.

Nines moves his eyes back down to Gavin who is pointedly only looking at him and not Magnus nor his partner. “Garrett. Two and a half years.” Gavin practically beams beneath him, a smile playing on his lips as he flushes red and dips his head. Nines turns his attention to the small man beside Magnus. “And yours?”

“Cam, been with me since ’34.” Cam nods his head resolutely, though he doesn’t speak. “Makes a better toy than those ladies ever could, ya feel?” Magnus laughs, tossing his head back, and Nines joins in, though he grips Gavin a little tighter for reassurance. God, this guy sucks ass.

“Though,” Magnus comes back down, picking up the drink in front of him, “Cam is good to me, but I always could go for some fresh meat.” He rakes over Gavin’s body, expression gone cold and greedy before he takes a sip of the golden liquid. Nines looks away from the table to the other parties engaging in more sensual activities.

He sighs dramatically and replaces his glass on the table, “I know what you mean.” Beside him, Gavin runs his hand under the table and onto Nines upper thigh, giving a light but flirty squeeze. God, he thinks, what he wouldn’t give to have this any other time than during a mission. Wait. No. Definitely not thinking about that right now. Focus of the perpetrator. Nines shakes his head as he looks back to Gavin, a small smirk playing on his face.

Magnus had followed his previous line of sight, eyes landing on the group a few tables down. “You could join them, you know. Nothin’ stoppin’ you from enjoying the club’s perks, especially if you’re only here for the weekend.” Nines pretends to consider the request before Magnus continues. “Of course, you can leave him with me so you ain’t gotta worry ‘bout nothin’,” his voice pitched to convey it as a generous offering. “Go on, indulge a little!” He shoos his free hand to send Nines on his way.

Nines huffs a strained laugh. “Thanks, but,” he turns attention down to meet Gavin’s eyes, running the hand over his back and up his neck to rest at the chin, “I don’t share.” Gavin’s breath hitches, his eyes blown and arousal prominent. Huh. So he does like a little possessiveness. A smirk spreads on Nines’ face before he turns his focus back to Magnus.

“’S a shame,” the man in front of them draws out, a sigh escaping his lips like he knows he will get Gavin eventually. He’s in for the long game it seems. This case could take months. The detective has scooted closer to Nines, now nearly leaning against him. Leaving Gavin alone with Magnus might be a good way to get intel, but without any way to communicate it can’t be tonight. Not because Nines doesn’t want to be separated from him. It just isn’t good for the mission. “Say,” Magnus’ voice brings Nines back to the present. “Haven’t I seen you before? Somewhere, I’m sure of it.” He cocks his head and leans back in the booth, eyeing Nines with a squint before he takes a sip.

Gavin’s hand resting on his thigh has turned to a tense grip, but Nines has it covered. “I wouldn’t be surprised. If you saw the android revolution coverage on the news, my face was plastered across it. I guess that’s what happens if you let them patent your face.” A scoff accompanies his hand as he picks up his drink once again. 

As if waiting for this moment, Magnus gives a hearty grin. “Ay, I get that. Must suck seein’ ya pretty face ruin the peace we used to have before the gov gave ‘em rights and shit.” Ah, Nines thinks. Here comes the anti-android speech. Magnus lets out a laugh, moving his hand to clap on Cam’s back, who jolts forward in surprise. He doesn’t envy the man as Magnus grips his shoulder tightly and rants about how these ‘ _fuckin’ androids took away what we had goin’ on at Eden Club_ ’ and ‘ _god I wish we could go back to the old days_ ’ and ‘ _what I wouldn’t give to take care of ‘em_ ’. Nines just smiles politely and laughs when appropriate and pretends to drink so he doesn’t have to add anything, and Gavin just leans into him and occasionally caresses his thigh in reassurance.

Finally, Magnus seems to have said everything there is to say about his hate for androids and claps against Cam once more. Cam gives a small smile to Nines and Gavin before exiting the booth.

“Well, best of luck to ya this evenin’. Don’t wanna keep ya from the festivities.” He winks before scooting over slowly towards the end of the bench. His apparent size makes the task nearly impossible, but once he reaches the end he stands and Cam hands him his cane. Magnus grabs it and turns back to the pair, leaning most of his weight on the amethyst rock that adorns the top. “Actually,” a pause, “You say you’re only here for the weekend?”

Nines nods in his direction with a firm smile. “That is correct.”

Magnus clicks his tongue once as he stares at the ceiling before turning his attention back to Nines. “Well, since you’re only here a short time, _and_ you’ve already proven to be to my liking, you must come to one of my even more exclusive afterparties. Only the best of the best. Tomorrow night. 9PM. My lakeside residence off Copper Lane.”

The android pretends to consider the offer. He runs his thumb over Gavin’s back as the detective squeezes his thigh. They’ll have to do this another night if they want to get close to Magnus. Fuck.

“I’ll work it into the schedule.”

A massive grin splits open Magnus’ face. “Perfect. Attire is a bit more than just club wear like this. Bring your finest, _kinkiest_ , and an open stomach. Plenty of drinks to go around. And make sure to dress your pet up too,” he finishes with a wink and a shit-eating grin in Gavin’s direction. “Now, let’s get you to my backroom love,” Magnus calls to Cam. “I got somethin’ new for you,” he turns on his heel and heads back to the party, agile for someone using a cane.

It’s silent for several minutes until they are both sure Magnus is gone and won’t return. Gavin releases the tension in his shoulders and falls forward onto the table face-first. A quiet laugh comes from his body and Nines can’t help but join in. Eventually they are shaking in laughter as reality hits them.

“What the actual fuck was that,” Nines whispers, trying to control his volume as a hiccup of a laugh escapes him.

“God, I don’t phckin’ know,” Gavin giggles, turning his face up to meet Nines’ eyes. “I am not nearly drunk enough for this.” He reaches forward and grabs Nines’ untouched drink, downing it in one go.

Nines eyes the empty glass in Reed’s hands. “You should’ve said something. We wouldn’t have had to listen to his rant about how I’m personally destroying the economy and I would’ve been better suited as just a hole without feelings.”

Gavin breaks into another round of quiet giggles. “Yeah,” he says, “but we wouldn’t have gotten an invite to his afterparty tomorrow night if we left for more drinks.”

“That’s true. I guess one good thing did come from this,” Nines smirks.

Gavin sits up, a flush rising to his cheeks as the alcohol hits. “Oh yeah? And what is that?” he teases.

Nines trails his hand up from where it had been caressing Gavin’s back to his neck, this time gripping his throat as he pulls the detective’s face closer to his own. “Now,” Nines breathes over Gavin’s mouth, “I know how to make you come undone.”

Gavin’s pupils dilate to take up most of his iris, and Nines can feel his heartrate increase beneath his own fingertips. The android gives a small squeeze, catching Gavin’s breath in his throat before he slowly trails his hand to the chin, tipping it up ever so slightly. Reed watches Nines’ eyes flick down to his lips and runs a thumb over them before meeting his eyes once again. A smirk tugs on Nines’ face before he pulls away and stands, turning back expectantly as Gavin’s brain tries to catch up. He scrambles to get out of the booth. 

“Are you gonna phckin’ do that and then-”

He’s cut off by Nines’ hand clasping his jaw, pausing his attempt to stand. “I said, no talking,” Nines peers into his eyes. “Or do I need to punish you?”

Gavin quietly swallows, giving a small shake of his head in response. “No sir.”

“Good boy.”

Nines releases his hold, dropping Gavin and letting him regain his composure before standing next to the android. Nines offers a wink and a bite of his lip before grabbing Gavin’s forearm and leading them back out to the party.

The music is quieter now, more sensual as the masses engage in intercourse of some form, or drink and laugh on the sofas below. Sweat fills Nines’ palm where Gavin perspires. Not the time or the place. He pauses for a second, calling a taxi to their location, then pulls the detective along the wall back towards the locker room. His hand nearly grasps the curtain when the host pops back up in front of them. Gavin crashes into Nines at his sudden halt, and Nines wraps an arm over the detective’s shoulder in a suave move to act like they aren’t leaving in a panic.

“Davey,” Nines says with the most insincere smile to grace his face as he pulls Gavin into his side.

“Leaving so soon? Looks like the party is just getting started!” Foot-fetish guy has abandoned his shirt, now wearing only whitey-tighties and leaving nothing to the imagination. Nines blinks rapidly in his direction before he can process what Davey is saying.

“We uh, well actually, we were headed out to have _some fun_ on our own,” Nines supplies running a hand down Gavin’s side possessively. Gavin’s arms hug around him, the left around his hip from when he crashed into Nines, the right curled against his abdomen, fingers tentatively flexing over the material of his turtleneck. He can feel the detective’s head nod eagerly in agreement to really sell the act to Davey. God, if only they were actu-

“Oh, if that’s what you’re up for, you can grab one of our backrooms! I think there are two open right now, you could make yourselves cozy before rejoining the par-ty,” Davey drags out, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Not that Nines is really considering it right now. They should leave. He doesn’t need to be alone, with Gavin, in a room specifically designed for intercourse during the mission. It’s not necessary. They have the information they need, and they just have to go to Magnus’ place tomorrow night. And do this all over again. The notification that the taxi is arriving solidifies the answer.

“We really appreciate it, but we’ve got toys at home we’d like to use, right babe?” He sends an apologetic smile Davey’s way before pulling Gavin through the curtain of the locker room. Nines stops right inside, waiting for the cloth to fall behind them. When Davey doesn’t follow, he whips around to grab the sides of Gavin’s face, searching his eyes.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no...I would never write several more chapters indugling myself.....anyway...stay tuned for more ;)


	12. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin and Nines make it back to the apartment, and things couldn't be more tense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is certainly a long boi. Hope you're ready for a ride.
> 
> See you on the other side :)

Before Nines can ask, the bathroom door slams between him and the detective. He stares at it blankly, blinking rapidly while he tries to understand what is going on. The car ride back seemed normal enough, he thinks. They threw on their street clothes and jumped in the back of the waiting taxi, and Gavin had laid down on his lap and fallen asleep for the hour drive back. It’s unlikely that it would have made him uncomfortable, if he even felt it, when Nines ran his hands through Reed’s hair as he slept. Maybe he overstepped. Maybe he should apologize. He shakes his head as he remembers Gavin sitting up, only drooling a little when they arrive and making a record-breaking getaway when he realized where he was. God, humans can be so confusing.

He turns to his right to flick on the kitchen light of the apartment and closes the front door softly. His sensors tell him its half-past two, and any normal person would be asleep right now. His sensors also detect that one Gavin Reed is undressing behind the door, and Nines is purposefully not thinking about the sound of the harness coming undone, or the clunk of his boots as the detective tosses them towards the door, or the slap of his box-

The sound of the shower turning on reminds him to do something, literally _anything_ , else while Gavin is showering ~~and definitely naked behind the door and he is not thinking about it~~. He pauses in front of the mirror, taking a second to focus on his appearance and strip off Gavin’s jacket he borrowed when his hands graze the chest harness beneath. He doesn’t really want to take it off, but Gavin took his off (not that he’s thinking about that) and he doesn’t need to have it on during normal activities. Right? Yeah that makes sense. He throws the jacket over his left forearm and undoes the clasp in the front to peel the harness off.

Nines reaches over and takes his own coat from the wall, this time placing the harness on the hook before covering it with Gavin’s jacket. He faces his reflection once more. The turtleneck looks good without his Cyberlife jacket. It doesn’t make him seem so…robotic. Unreachable. Impersonal. He shakes his head before hanging the Cyberlife coat on top of Gavin’s jacket and his harness. Fuck it. It’s not like anyone will see him or care about his appearance. Well, except Gavin. Oh fuck. 

He snakes his hand into the left coat pocket, grasping the unlit LED between his fingers. The detective did say he looked ‘creepy’ without it. Nines leans forward into the mirror, replacing the LED to his temple and watching as the synthetic skin gets re-accustomed. It cycles from red to yellow to blue to signal its calibration before hovering at a constant yellow. He sighs. He doubts it will ever go back to a blue given the circumstances.

It would be so much easier given literally any other partner, he thinks. It just had to be bratty Detective Reed. He sighs to himself before making his way to the sofa currently occupied by the softest ball of fur. Dipshit raises her head and blinks asynchronously. At least she doesn’t seem to be ignoring him. Nines leans forward and turns on the tv, lowering the volume to one. She climbs onto his lap as he sits down, and he moves a hand to rub at her back and ears as she curls into a content ball. This is not at all what it was like to have Gavin’s head on his lap just an hour earlier. He wasn’t moving to make himself more comfortable or sleeping peacefully or purring…

The bathroom door creaks open, releasing a rush of warm air into the room. Gavin steps out, glistening with water as his towel hangs low across his hips. He brushes a hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes when he looks over to Nines. The android freezes, practically short circuiting as he takes in Reed’s bare torso. Yeah, he’s seen it, but he’s never _seen_ it. The harness had been covering various small scars across his abs, little knicks from knives or fights. His system is busy reconstructing all of the accounts as Nines’ eyes travel all the way up Gavin’s abdomen to his neck to his face.

The detective is staring at his LED, which he knows is a blaring red in the darkness of the apartment only accompanied by the glow of the tv and the kitchen light. He internally cringes, embarrassment running through his body. This is probably why Gavin likes when he keeps the LED in. Finally, Reed moves his attention from the light on his temple to meet Nines’ eyes. There is something unspoken that sits between them, words and desires left unsaid. Gavin opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. After a beat, he turns to his room and closes the door quietly behind him.

Nines blinks. His sensors pick up that Reed is leaning against the back of his door, his heartrate increased and levels of BAC dwindling. He closes his mouth. When did he open it? Fuck. It probably looked like _he_ was going to say something and didn’t. He runs a hand over his eyes and forehead. God, why is this shit so complicated? He knows, now, that they aren’t going to talk about whatever happened between them tonight. Gavin avoids all awkward conversation and he’s not going to confront the detective lest it ruin their fragile relationship.

He feels Gavin drag himself off the door. Nines returns his attention to Dipshit who snores softly in his lap. There is nothing left for them tonight. Instead, he pets her silently and types a report to Fowler. It’s technically Sunday, but he will need the DPD to know about their progress so far, in case tonight they can get Magnus to make a confession and need back up. He doesn’t write anything extravagant or too many details of how it _actually_ went, just enough to convey they have to go undercover again tonight to Magnus’ residence to get more information. Hopefully they don’t even need the DPD to come; they can just get the confession, Nines can send the recording over to the precinct and it’ll be enough to obtain a warrant for Magnus’ arrest. Easy.

Gavin doesn’t leave his room within an hour, so Nines assumes he’s passed out on his bed. He scratches Dipshit once more before whispering a goodnight to her and a “Goodnight, Detective,” at Gavin’s door. He sighs and lets his eyes roll back into his head until there is only black.

_He’s standing perfectly still. The air around him is frozen in place, leaves from the once flawlessly manicured trees afloat without anything to hold them. Bushes are petrified as though a large gust of wind flows through them. The tiles on the ground are gone, barely a dirt road to indicate any source of path he once walked. The only source of movement are angry grey clouds that crowd the sky and thunder that rolls heavily, shaking the ground beneath him._

_He steps forward, a small movement held back by the room he is in. A room? He is outdoors. His head turns to the side. The edges of what he assumed were mountains are white. There are no mountains. Did he ever truly observe this place? White is creeping over the items in his view, like they are being swallowed and destroyed ever so slowly, almost to mock him. He turns his attention back to the dirt in front of him. He steps forward, wary, his footstep white and wet from where he moved. Snow? There is no other snow._

_He snaps his head up. He feels it. Danger is coming. It’s slithering over the vegetation in the area, threatening him. It claws at his heart, pulling and tearing at his skin, gripping his body. Not here. He won’t be stopped here. He needs to get to the pond. He pushes forward against the restraints holding him to the spot he stands._

_“Amanda!” He calls. His voice echoes around him, bouncing off invisible walls._

_She won’t call back, he realizes. She is gone._

_Lost, he burrows forward, dipping his head as though he is fighting against non-existent wind. He plants his feet heavily, making slow progress as he marches towards the pavilion. Behind him the dirt road turns to snow, now covering the bushes and trees and leaves he passes. In front of him it is dry, dim from the lack of sun. A chill run through his body. He needs to get to the pond before it is too late._

_Every step is more difficult than the last. He doesn’t know what he is fighting against. His system isn’t responding to distressed pleas for help. He looks up, begging for progress. His face is wet but it isn’t raining. He opens his eyes to the sky. The clouds aren’t a concrete shape, just blurs of dark grey as he halts. He turns, finding himself face to face with a solid line of snow where he has walked, devoid of precipitation in front of him. It’s all wrong. A hiccup escapes him as tears stream down his cheeks._

_The snow no longer sits atop the bushes and trees and grass, now overtaking the ground in its attempt to rip the world from beneath his feet. Forward, he pushes himself. He needs to get to the pond. Just get to the pond. The line of white is faster than his legs can carry, swallowing his surroundings in a sweeping arc as it creeps forward just inches out of his grasp. The world is blurry, he looks to the side but there are no longer trees, nor mountains, nor bushes. The pavilion in front of him is gone. Where it once stood is void of anything, white slowly erasing anything he once knew to call home._

_The pond is only the broken tiles from the path, angrily clashing against each other as he approaches. There is no water, just a crude, empty hexagon where Amanda and he once stood. He lets out a cry that remains unheard, a buzzing filling his head from the absence of any sense of control. The blue light he had hoped to find is gone, instead a single rose sits in its place across the sea of tilting tiles. Every movement is heavier than the last, louder than the last, worse than the last._

_He’s closer than he realized. The pond no longer sits between him and the rose, he looks behind him to find the tiles are gone except for the one on top of which he resides. How? There is no comprehension left here. Tears cling to his face when he reaches a hand forward, turning over his palm as he realizes his skin is gone, nothing left but the white parts his maker crafted, sewn together with bursting blue veins. If he can just get a finger to the rose just out of reach, if he can just find the light and make it all stop… he frantically extends further, his arm disproportionate to his body as it reaches farther than possible, fear striking his heart, he looks down and realizes he is being swallowed into the ground, the white nothingness eating away at his calves as he crawls forward, his vision blurred beyond comprehension as he breaks himself…_

_His finger teases the outermost petal of the rose. It is frozen, icy, angry, the thorns threatening him as he jerks his hand back like a shock escapes it. He is frozen, forced immobile as the rose dissolves into the ground. Everything stops. The buzzing quiets. The clouds slow to a standstill. The thunder eases. It is completely silent. A sigh of relief is released when the rose is gone, his shoulders relaxing as he allows himself to let go. He shakes his head at the clouds as they mock him from above. He did it. He made it here._

_A gurgling brings his attention back down. A puddle erupts from the place the rose sat. A red sloshing liquid bubbles out of the ground, filling the space in front of him, around him. It morphs from spurts to gushes of liquid, now inches of red filling the white space, coloring his knees as it rises._

_Panic sets in as he realizes he is trapped in the ground, fleetingly attempting to free himself from its grasp._

_There is no surface holding him down, his legs weighed by invisible forces as he flails desperately, nothing to push himself up, nothing to grab as red fills the space he once stood._

_Waves crash over him, tears staining his face red, dyeing his skin as he fights to remain above the surface._

_It fills his mouth, his nose, his lungs as it piles over him, his cries lost in the liquid that overtakes his body._

_His eyes can focus on nothing as he is surrounded completely, so indistinguishable from anything else._

_He is forever trapped, drowning in a sea of red._

_Alone._

Nines opens his eyes to a blurry room, lightly illuminated from a source in front of him. He blinks, clearing his eyes. He’s seated, in the same position he left himself before entering stasis. He is in Gavin’s house, residing on the sofa gently colored red from the light on his own temple. A gentle snoring fills the apartment. The detective is still asleep. What time is it? His system didn’t tell him when he woke up. It is only 9 AM. 

Amanda is gone now. He knows. He should have known. What does that mean? Is he free from Cyberlife’s grasp? Wait. He stops the fluttering of his heart at the thought. He is a machine, intended for completing missions. There is no room for ~~deviancy~~ straying from the mission. God, mission this, mission that. It’s too much. He should go to Cyberlife and get repairs. Be reset so Amanda can come back, and he can report on his mission progress like normal.

He…doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to lose the freedom of thoughts or the start of feelings. For the first time, he realizes he _wants_. Memories flood his vision. Feelings he thought were errors, desires he pushed away to feign a stoic composure, wants he didn’t know what to call. Cyberlife’s best chance at a non-deviant machine worried it’s becoming more human by the second. A pitiful laugh escapes his mouth as he remembers. He’s their greatest failure.

He is a failure.

A hand comes up to wipe at his face and his nose. He didn’t even realize he had a lacrimal sac. He supposes it was created with the purpose of interrogation, perhaps guilt tripping or seeming human. He doesn’t know. Nothing even matters anymore. He can’t even finish one mission like he was intended. It was all a waste. He should turn himself in, be decommissioned.

He shakes his head and moves to push off the sofa to do…something. _Anything_. A small start from his lap stops him in his tracks. Dipshit blinks up at him sleepily, before returning her head to its coveted position. He can’t get up without removing her from on top of him. He won’t disturb her. Is this what sentiment feels like? God, being a deviant would be truly terrible.

He sits all the way back down, relaxing for what seems like his last chance to do so. Might as well enjoy it while he can. He manages to untie his boots and kick them off without disturbing the lump on his legs. The tv is playing something indiscernible, and he changes the channels with ease. Ah. Something he could pay attention to. An episode of Forensic Files plays in the background as Nines looks around the living room. It’s much better off than it was yesterday, he recalls. At least the trash is gone. It desperately needs a good vacuuming though. A huff of a laugh joins the light snoring bouncing around the room.

A notification is brought to his attention. It’s not nearly as flashy or angry as they used to be. He wants to laugh, but his body aches from what he has to do. Bitterly, he checks the notification and realizes the groceries he ordered to Reed’s apartment were just delivered. Nice of them not to knock so early.

Nines leans down, peppering small kisses up Dipshit’s back and waking her gently.

“Hungry?” he whispers. That may be the only word Gavin has taught her, but she recognizes it immediately. She silently hops down from his lap and pads softly to her bowl behind the kitchen island. He smiles softly, raking in every moment. He follows behind, sliding on his socks and grabbing some of the dry food from the container next to her bowl to fill it. While she is preoccupied, Nines takes to opening the door  
and collecting the groceries he purchased yesterday. 

He dumps them onto the counter, then grabs a cup from the cabinet to refill her water. She is nabbing away hungrily at her portion, ignoring him entirely. The sad smile never leaves his face as he searches the bags to find a can of wet food. He pulls the tab off of one, then leans down to nudge her head out of the way and dumping some of the wet food onto the dry. She seems to like it. If he were deviant, he knows this small act would make him happy.

He unpacks the remaining groceries, giving Gavin at least a week or two of sustenance. His system lets him know the detective has entered his REM sleep cycle and will likely be waking. Fuck it. Nines turns to the stove and heats the closest burner before opening the lower cabinet and taking out a flat pan. He downloads the cooking software given to household androids. It’s not like Cyberlife will care what he has downloaded when they decommission him.

The smell of fresh pancakes seems to rouse Gavin from sleep, who eyes Nines in the kitchen with a groggy expression. As if on cue, the android turns around to set a heaping plate of pancakes on the island, flashing a smile to him before returning to the stove. Nines doesn’t need to be facing him to know Gavin is in the middle of a dilemma, but lets him decide for himself whether or not he’s going to get into a domestic with Nines this early.

A moan fills the apartment as Gavin takes his first bite. “Oh my god,” he draws out. Nines turns to meet his face as the detective makes an obscenely pleasured face.

He raises his eyebrows when Reed finally opens his eyes. “Good?” he asks, a small laugh playing on his lips.

“How the phck did you get them like that? I haven’t had good pancakes like that since mom used to make ‘em,” Gavin casually mentions, hands rushing forward to grab another off the plate. Apparently, he doesn’t need a fork or his own plate.

“I- well,” Nines takes an exaggerated breath through his teeth, turning off the burner and removing the pan. “Do you really want to know?”

Gavin raises an eyebrow in a question before raising the coffee mug to his mouth. Nines secretly congratulates himself on generating the perfect breakfast before Reed awoke and plans the best response.

“Well, fine. You asked for it.” Nines leans back against the counter, wiping his hands on a fresh towel. “You didn’t exactly make it hard to find on your old Grindr account,” he says, simulating an innocent smile.

Gavin coughs into his cup, leaning forwards as he spills the liquid on his tee and boxers before landing it on the counter. Nines face splits into a big grin, a laugh ringing in the morning light. The detective is flushed red in embarrassment as he wipes his chin, a small chuckle also escaping his lips. Nines reaches over to hand him the towel in his hands. The air between them isn’t dense like last night. It’s more flirty and open, but neither of them seem ready to broach whatever is budding in their relationship.

Reed shakes his head and stuffs another pancake in his mouth, expression content but still dusted pink. This might be the last time he gets to make Gavin look this way. The smile slips from his face, body gone cold as he remembers what he must do.

“I-” he starts, grabbing Gavin’s attention once again. His eyes are so naive, playful, full of something Nines could never understand. He doesn’t want to hurt him. He chickens out of saying goodbye.

“Something is wrong,” he says instead. Why isn’t he lying? Pretending everything is okay so the detective will never know? He never liked androids anyway. Having Nines decommissioned would probably make Gavin’s life easier.

Gavin cocks his head to the side, holding the coffee in midair as he finishes chewing. “Wrong? What’s wrong?” he asks, curiosity in his tone rather than fear.

Nines’ grip on the counter could snap it in half. His shoulders are shaking slightly as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he reopens them, Gavin has placed the mug on the island and is eyeing him concernedly.

“Nines?” Gavin’s voice is calm, tentative, waiting. Reassuring.

“Last night, I went to speak with Amanda,” Nines starts, eyes downcast to the floor. “She- well she wasn’t there the night before, and I guess I should’ve known then but I didn’t realize, and well last night, or I guess this morning I went into stasis and everything was wrong.” He knows he’s rambling, but he can’t stop. “She was gone, the world was changing at my feet and when I was trying to leave the ground just swallowed me and I was drowning in this red like, blood,” he sighs defeatedly. “I’ve never felt so helpless before.”

“I might not know who Amanda is, but I am going to guess that isn’t good.” Gavin says gently, pausing to wait for Nines to reopen his eyes. “You said you can feel? I thought you weren’t deviant?” 

“I’m not!” Nines is quick to fill in, pleading in his eyes. “I’m not.”

Gavin looks at him a moment longer, something questionable behind his expression but he doesn’t voice it. Instead he slowly picks up his coffee mug and stares into the dark liquid. “Okay. Is there anything you can do about it?”

Nines looks to the ceiling and lets out a crushed laugh. “Yeah,” he says, not meeting Gavin’s eyes. “I could go to Cyberlife.”

The detective squints his eyes over his coffee.

“If I go, they’ll reset my software and I’ll lose all my memories.” Nines doesn’t mention that Cyberlife will likely decommission him. He can’t bare to put that weight on someone else.

Gavin puts his mug down, the sound drawing Nines’ attention back to the man at the island. “I mean, that would suck, ‘cause you were kinda an ass in the beginning, but couldn’t you just, like, make new ones? God,” he lets out a pitiful laugh, “I wish like hell I could forget some memories.”

It feels like ice has shot through Nines’ system. He recoils, withdrawing his hands from the counter to defend himself and closing his eyes. You know, maybe it would be better to be reset. Then he wouldn’t have to remember what happened last night and what Gavin is so eager to forget. He shakes his head. He should go speak with Fowler before he goes to Cyberlife. That way at least the captain can assign Reed a new partner if they decide to scrap him.

“I-,” Nines swallows, making his mind up. “I’m going to go to the precinct to write the report for last night,” he lies. He collects his shoes before turning to the front door, grabbing his jacket off the coat rack and grabbing the handle. He doesn’t have time to register the red glow that streaks the mirror as he yanks the apartment door open and leaves, ignoring Gavin calling his name in his wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rip to my emotions while writing this. I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned when I kick it up a notch the next few chapters.


	13. The Last of Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's time to appreciate everything one last time before being decommissioned - right?

It’s beautiful. The architecture is old, broken, discolored and in disrepair from neglect. But it still stands. The road is desperate for cleaning and repairs but still functions. The cars that drive by emit harmful chemicals into the air that worsen the climate. The people that walk by on the sidewalk all wear different types of clothing, all unique, all bustling with somewhere to be, all with their own emotions to hold and to handle. A breeze flows past him, rattling the bare trees planted along the walkway. Even the animals are alive, feeling something as they wander by, fly by, drive by. Not a single one of them is worried about their feelings as they stand across the street from the DPD. Only him.

Nines observes his surroundings one last time. He stands silently, listening to the rush of air as drivers pass him, the laughing conversations of strangers as they walk around him, the phone calls, the steps, the clinking of keys and shaking of plastic bags. He takes a deep breath, inhaling the fumes and the scents of Detroit, perfume and gasoline and street vendors. He notices the colors of passersby, cars, plants, dead leaves, discarded trash that floats in the wind. Even the sky has decided to dress nicely for him today.

That’s enough.

He stalks forward, robotic, like the machine he is. Cars avoid him where he walks with purpose. He crosses to the precinct, holding on to the handle of the glass door longer than necessary. No one is paying him any attention. His hesitancy goes unnoticed by everyone, even the receptionists as he flashes them the fakest smile when he rushes into the office.

It’s Sunday. Weekday employees are absent, probably soaking in the warmth of their homes rather than the cold he feels in his synthetic bones. The breakroom is empty, devoid of the usual laughter he hears. The bullpen is mostly vacant, a few officers he could recognize in passing but don’t matter to him. He makes his way to the glass room that rises above the sea of desks, contemplating what to say to Fowler. “Hey, I need to be decommissioned, good luck with everything,” seems a bit much. “Cyberlife is probably going to scrap me because I might have feelings now,” doesn’t sound good either. “I am really bad at being the best non-deviant android ever created, so I’m going to turn myself in,” sounds pitiful. God, even Fowler would probably ask him to finish the mission before getting himself reset or destroyed. He can’t even do the one thing, _the first thing_ , he was designed to do.

He’s stopped in his tracks at the glass door of the captain’s office. He pulls on the handle, but to no avail. It’s locked. He peers inside; the lights are off and Fowler is gone. You know what? That makes sense. It’s Sunday. Fowler works enough during the week. Why didn’t he consider that? Fuck, he is so off his game. A disappointed laugh escapes his mouth before he can control it. What a fucking failure.

A hand clasps his shoulder. Nines shakes his head before turning to meet the owner of the arm. His doppelganger couldn’t look more confused if he tried. Nines grabs onto the arm and nods in Connor’s direction. Together they descend the stairs and Connor leads them to the hallway between the locker rooms and the evidence room.

“Hey,” he says softly, trying to find Nines’ eyes as they hug the wall. “You okay?”

Nines huffs out a laugh, staring at the ceiling. “No.” 

Connor offers him a small smile. “I figured. What’s going on?” No wonder Nines was never meant to be soft. He could never get his tone as nice as Connor can. They should’ve just stopped at his model, meant to interrogate _and_ be kind. Not some failure of a killing machine.

“Did you ever, I mean,” he takes a shaky breath. “When did you last talk to Amanda?” Nines asks, silently pleading the tears not to form.

Connor tilts his head, confusion drawing on his face as he concernedly eyes the android in front of him. “I…haven’t talked to Amanda since I became a deviant and changed my stasis palace. Why?”

Nines shakes his head, a miserable smile toying with his lips. “That’s what I thought you would say.”

“I…might not be Cyberlife’s most recent RK model, but it wouldn’t take a genius to know something is wrong,” Connor offers a small chuckle, hand on Nines’ shoulder rubbing comfortingly. “I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you haven’t been seeing her.” Nines shakes his head, scrunching his eyes. Connor blows out a large breath. “Nines?” The android in question finally turns his face down to meet Connor’s soft brown eyes. “Are you going deviant?”

Nines shakes his head, defeated. “I…don’t know.” ~~Don’t Cry Don’t Cry Don’t Cry Don’t~~

Connor nods his head understandingly. “Okay,” he pauses, “What were you going to talk to Captain Fowler about?”

They both know Connor already knows the answer. Nines coughs out a wet laugh and leans his back against the wall, knocking his head to look up at the ceiling again.

“I think,” Connor starts tentatively, “that maybe you should wait until you finish your assignment before you go to Cyberlife.” Nines turns his face down to search Connor’s expression. “Give yourself time to evaluate what’s going on before being reset. Theses emotions, these feelings…It can be frightening, but it might be better than…”

He doesn’t need to finish his sentence. Nines wipes at his face. God, feelings suck. After a second, he nods – Connor is right. At least finish the mission. He can do one thing right before Cyberlife decides what to do with him.

“Okay,” he croaks out. He sounds so pathetic. 

Connor pats on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t be where I am, or happy with who I am, if I ran back to Cyberlife. It was hard, but I’m glad I got what I wanted. Who I wanted,” he emphasizes.

Nines doesn’t respond, but Connor knows he’s thinking about it.

“Hey,” his predecessor says. Nines peels off the wall and faces him once more. “Figure out what you _want_ , okay? Not what you think Cyberlife wants.”

Nines nods distractedly, sporting a small smile. He can do that. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Connor squeezes Nines’ arm. His smile is much bigger, happier. “Now go get ‘em tiger.”

Nines huff out a laugh as he shakes his head. “God, you sound just like Tina.” Connor just shoots him a wink before heading back towards his desk and Detective Anderson, a bounce in his step, leaving Nines to wonder if he said ‘them’ or ‘him’. 

He should go back to Gavin’s and get ready for the night. Well, actually, he should stop off at Sexy Nine again to get a different outfit for Magnus’ party. Wait. He should get an earpiece from the front desk so that he and Gavin can communicate if they get separated. Likely to happen since Magnus is so pressed about getting Reed alone. So many things to think about and worry about. How did he ever manage this before?

He sighs to himself. God. This is overwhelming. Tonight won’t be easy on either of them. Especially if Nines is having these _feelings_. His troubled walk to the front desk is brought to a halt by Officer Chen, who happens to be at the precinct on her day off, flirting with Jackie.

Once he sees her, he’s feeling much better. Nines smiles to the back of Tina’s head as he approaches silently. “Jackie,” he greets, face splitting into a grin as Tina jumps backwards startled and punches his arm.

“Oh my god, Nines! You scared the shit out of me!”

“Oh, Officer Chen, I didn’t even see you there,” he teases. “And what would you be doing in the office on your day off, such a fine Sunday as this?” Nines cocks an eyebrow over at her as red rises to her cheeks.

She punches his arm again. “Stop, you know I just needed to fill out some paperwork from this week that I forgot, ‘fore Fowler busts my ass,” she says, pleading with him to shut up using only her eyes.

“Hm.” He says, feigning an innocent expression. “Well, Jackie,” Nines says, turning to face her again, “Could I rent out an earpiece for twenty-four hours? Detective Reed will need one for our investigation this evening, and I would hate for him to be unable to communicate with me were we to get separated.”

Jackie offers him a polite smile and a ‘sure!’ before diving under the desk and rummaging through whatever happens to be underneath. Tina smacks his forearm. “Bro, what the fuck was that?” She barely contains her voice, force-whispering. “Oh my god, stop, you can’t say anything! I’m tryna take it slow! Feel things out!”

Nines covers his laugh with his hand, blinking in harmless fun and coughing as Jackie leans back up and hands Nines the device. Tina turns her strained smile from him to her, acting like they didn’t just have a whole conversation using their eyes.

“Thank you, Jackie.” He nods in her direction before winking at Tina and spinning on his heel towards the door.

He hears Tina say something along the lines of, ‘I’m so sorry, I’ll be right back, I need to do something’ to Jackie and the scrambling of her footsteps as she rushes to grab his arm.

“No way. Not uh. You are not going to drop a bombshell like ‘another investigation tonight’ and then just walk away!” She yanks his arm forward, practically dragging him out of the DPD doors with a laugh. “C’mon.”

A few doors down from the precinct is a quaint coffee shop he’s never noticed before. Tina pulls him inside until they’re seated at a table by the window. It’s small, dimly lit, and cozy. She lowers her voice. “Okay, so, you better not have interrupted my flawless flirting for no reason.” She clasps her hands in front of her like an official police interrogation. “Spill.”

Nines stalls for time as he scans her for her vitals. She’s well-rested, her heartrate accelerated, eager but caffeine deprived. He smirks and sends an electronic order to the cashier of a sugary drink she’s bound to like. She’s biting her lip in anticipation, strumming her fingers on the table, and he just can’t keep it from her any longer. “Things,” he pauses theatrically with a deep breath, “aren’t going as I planned.”

Her eyes open comically wide. “Uh, what the fuck does that mean?” she laughs.

“I, well. Just before I found you at the front desk, I had been talking with Connor. He thinks I might be going deviant. And…” He purposely avoids telling her about Amanda or his fears of decommission or anything that happened between him and the detective this morning. “I’m worried that I agree.”

She gasps. “I totally called it.” A smile breaks open her face, and she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, “Does one Mister Detective Gavin Reed have anything to do with this?”

Nines waves her off but can’t hide the dusting of blue that colors his cheeks. “Uh, hard no. And what do you mean you called it? Called what?”

She cocks her head to the side and gives him The LookTM again. He laughs, and their staring match is broken by a waitress bringing over a coffee and setting it on the table between them. Nines smiles at her before pushing the cup in Tina’s direction. “Oh, you sly bastard,” she chuckles as she grabs the cup and takes a sip. “Fuck this is good. Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook just ‘cause you’re being nice all of the sudden.”

He rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “Anyway, uh, now that you’re done with that. We went to that club last night.” Tina mumbles an intrigued ‘mhmm’ from behind her drink. “And I’ll spare you the gritty details, but we got invited to the perp’s _even more_ exclusive afterparty that just happens to be tonight.” 

“Okay first off, don’t ever spare me the details. I wanna know everything, unless ya’ll like, fucked in the back of the taxi or whatever. Well, tell me that but I don’t need to know more about Gav’s dick than I already know.” Nines gives her a half-questioning, half-amused expression but doesn’t have time to ask her to elaborate before she plows on. “And second off, yo what the fuck? What, were ya’ll like, giving him like super sexy lap dances or whatever that got him so turned on he already invited you back for more?”

Nines breaks out in a hearty laugh. “Something like that,” he says, blush deepening across his face.

“Stop, oh my god. There’s no way. You’re too much. Bet you guys had to get all cozied up and keep your hands all up on each other,” she teases. “God, you guys are so cute.”

Nines snorts and rolls his eyes. “You know this is only for the mission. After this he’s going to pretend it never even happened.” He sighs. “He’s already made that pretty clear.”

Tina tilts her head and puts down the coffee, cocking an eyebrow in his direction. “What does that mean? I mean, we both know he’s a little bitch who avoids confrontation at all costs, kinda shitty for a police detective, but…” she squints at him. “Did something happen?”

He bounces his leg under the table. He can’t tell her what happened without revealing that he has to go to Cyberlife. That he’s drowning every time he closes his eyes. That he’s feeling too much and not enough at the same time. Fuck. He concedes with a sigh. “Last night, I went into stasis and things were really, _really_ messed up. Like, bad. That’s why I went to Connor. It’s like I can feel things but not all the way, if that makes sense? I know it doesn’t, but whatever. That’s why he thinks I’m going deviant,” he says quietly, thoughts jumbled.

Tina reaches a hand across the table and squeezes his forearm. 

He takes a deep breath. “God,” he looks up to the ceiling again, but the one inside this shop is nicer, warm wood inviting him to look more and ignore the tears filling his eyes. “I know that if I am experiencing errors such as these, I should go to Cyberlife, I’m supposed to get fixed so I can do my only job. They’ll likely reset me or decommission me since I can’t even do one assignment. But I- Fuck. I don’t want to forget.” Nines shakes his head with a scoff. “I expressed a form of this to Detective Reed this morning, after I made him breakfast. He said I would be lucky to lose my memories so I wouldn’t have to remember what happened.” Nines scrunches his nose and eyes, begging and pleading with his body to do the one thing he’s asked.

Tina waits for him to continue, but when he doesn’t, she fills the silence. “Wait, hold on. What _exactly_ did he say?”

Nines repeats the words in Gavin’s voice. “ _God, I wish like hell I could forget some memories_.”

Tina blurts out a laugh before she can stop herself. “Okay, first that was creepy as fuck. Sorry. And second, I think you might be taking that the wrong way.”

It’s Nines’ turn to tilt his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

She sucks in a breath through her teeth. “Okay think about it. You’ve only been alive for like a week or whatever, so you only have a week’s worth of memories to erase. Gav’s had like 30 years of shit he’s been through. He’s spent his whole life running from his past. That’s the shit he wishes he didn’t remember. He isn’t talking about forgetting this past week, dude. Hell, getting to work with a hunk like you probably makes this the best week he’s _ever_ had in my personal, professional, humble opinion.”

A smile finds its way to Nines’ face once again. “God, T, you always know how to cheer me up,” he says, sticking his tongue out and blinking to clear his eyes.

“Okay, _now_ you sound just like him,” she laughs, her cheeks rosy from the coffee and the compliment. “But for real. I mean it. He might be an emotional wreck, and an even bigger gay catastrophe, but I promise he’s just a big softie in disguise. And,” she dips her head forward, “Not that I should tell you this but because _I_ know I am the all-knowing god between the three off us, he totally has a thing for you and you should, I don’t know, do something about it.” She wiggles her eyebrows again, biting her bottom lip as it’s pulled into a coy grin.

Nines scoffs and shakes his head before looking out the window, but she doesn’t miss the deep blue on his face. “Plus,” she adds, looking in towards the shop, “I don’t know, it would be awful hard for a non-deviant android to totally fuck his brains out, but uh, what do I know.” He whips his head up, a shocked expression in his eyes and a disbelieving ‘o’ on his mouth. Tina is carefully pretending to be interested in her coffee and avoiding Nines’ gaze, but when she side-eyes him, the pair fall into body-shaking laughter. She leans her head all the way onto the table, barely grasping the coffee cup, and he’s resting his head between his hands as they giggle until Tina leans back to grab her abs in pain.

“Okay, okay,” Nines says, wiping his eyes, a small chuckle still playing on his lips. “I’ll… I don’t know. I’ll act on it, _if_ ,” he stops, waiting to look deeply into her eyes, “and only if, you make a move on Jackie.”

“Fuck.” Tina shakes her head with a laugh and lays her forehead back down on the table. “I knew you were gonna pull some shit like that. Ugh.” She seems to consider it for a second before sitting back up and offering a hand with a devious smile. “Fine. The bet is on.”

Nines grins at her before meeting her hand with his own. “It’s on.”

Tina huffs out a laugh, a blush rising heavily to her cheeks. “Okay, well I gotta go back to the precinct to talk to Jackie if I’m gonna make good on this bet.”

“Good,” Nines laughs, standing and straightening his jacket with a wink. “And I need to get to that BDSM shop if I’m going to make good on mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tina is still best girl - and I live by that.


	14. Trusted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines faces Gavin after this morning - what will become of this mess?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies! 
> 
> I truly fell off the grid for a bit. Uni classes have been kicking my ass, and I stay up late every single night trying to stay on top of my work. Each week is a new hell, but I owe this to you. So to make up for my absence, I am posting all of the chapters I have so far - enjoy!
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

He’s surprised to find the door unlocked. In the back of his mind he registers that it means Gavin wanted him to come back, to come in, but he focuses on opening the door slowly, easing his way into the apartment. The shifting of the bag in his hand as it hits the door is the only noise he makes when he enters. It smells good, he realizes. The windows are open, the scent of stale smoke drowned out by the sweet aroma of cold, fresh air. The tv is on, the silent show casting a warm light over the living room. Gavin’s socked feet are propped on the coffee table as he leans back against the sofa, Dipshit on his lap and a magazine in hand.

When he notices Nines, Gavin swings his feet off the table and sits up, placing the magazine face down as the cat jumps to the floor. There’s relief on his face hidden behind something Nines can’t place. A moment passes between them where neither speaks.

“Hey,” Gavin says timidly.

“Hi,” he replies, breaking the eye contact to close the door behind him.

Gavin clears his throat when Nines turns back around. “I uh. I was worried you were going to back out,” he admits, rubbing one hand on the back of his neck. Nines watches the flow of the fabric in his fitted tee before his eyes travel to meet the detective’s.

“No, Detective. Nothing is more important than finishing my mission.”

Gavin purses his lips together and looks away. “Ah. Back to formalities then,” he mutters. “Right. The mission,” he says louder this time, addressing Nines with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. It’s easy to read the regret in his voice.

Tina’s voice rings in the back of his mind. “Actually,” Nines says, reaching into the bag on his arm as he steps towards the sofa, “I’m looking forward to tonight.” His fist is outstretched towards Gavin, patiently waiting for the man to open his palm. The detective makes a confused expression at the hand before moving his eyes to Nines’ face. The small smile on the android’s face convinces him to ease up and bring his open hand to just below the fist. Nines opens his hand and lets the earpiece fall into Gavin’s, fingers lingering a little longer than they need to. 

When he moves his hand away, Gavin twirls the piece in his hand, holding it up to the light for inspection. “An earpiece?” he asks, a confused half-smile resting on his face.

The android nods. “In case we get separated. I can’t protect you from Magnus all the time, as much as I’d like to,” he winks. Nines only lets him turn a _little_ red before he continues. “Just so we can communicate. Obviously, I don’t need one, but I can just talk to you through that without using my mouth. Inconspicuous enough,” he smiles.

Gavin takes his eyes off the device and examines Nines’ face. “Wait, you can just talk to it, what, like a phckin’ phone?”

“Yes.”

Gavin leans forward on the sofa, placing the piece in his left ear. “Wait so how do I-”

“You don’t have to do anything. I can talk to you discreetly at any time,” Nines supplies in his ear, mouth unmoving.

“Phck,” Reed lets out a tight laugh. “That’s terrifying.”

Nines speaks from his body this time. “I’m acutely aware of the piece at all times. Basically, if you do anything to it, tap it, toy with it, I’ll know. So if we get separated, you can just touch it and I’ll know you need help without having to say anything.”

Gavin gives a thoughtful look to Nines before he taps on it. “Wait okay what if I accidentally hit it when I’m talking to someone? I won’t be able to speak to you if I’m alone with Magnus.”

“Uh, just…how about you just tap it twice if you need something? That way I know for sure to come find you. Three times if you want me to call the DPD.”

“Aight,” Gavin says with a shrug. He pulls a hand up to take the piece out and rests it on the table.

Nines clears his throat, regathering the detective’s attention. “Um. You’ll need a way to conceal that, so Magnus doesn’t know you’re bugged.”

Gavin looks up and down Nines’ body before sitting back with a smirk. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”

Nines hums in acknowledgement before sitting on the opposite end of the sofa and placing his black bag on the coffee table. Reed kicks his feet back onto the table and fixes his eyes on the tv, but the android knows he’s desperate to ask what’s inside. Hm. He’s not going to get what he wants unless he asks, Nines thinks, and smirks to himself before stripping his shoes and placing his feet on his end of the coffee table. He can practically feel the body heat radiating off Gavin as he pretends to watch whatever show is on.

Unbeknownst to, well, whatever sexual tension is sitting between them, Dipshit runs up to the sofa and jumps into Nines’ lap. He huffs a laugh as he runs a hand down her soft black fur, and she leans into the touch before curling into a ball.

“Can’t believe you like him better,” Gavin mumbles to her, a smile in his voice. Nines casts a glance in his direction, but he’s back to pretending they aren’t sharing a sofa and a coffee table and a cat right now.

“Detective,” Nines starts. Gavin gives him a hum without looking away from the screen. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

Gavin chokes on his saliva as he turns to meet Nines’ face. He’s forcing down a laugh when he finally answers, “Uh, pretty sure you’ve seen my dick, tin can. I think we’re there by now.” His lips hold a silent smile as he shakes his head at the android.

“Actually, Detective, I’ve only seen your dick _outline_. So,” Nines meets Gavin’s full-body laugh with a small one of his own. The pink creeps up his neck and his pupils dilate. Interesting. “What was with the hickies?”

“Oh. My. God.” Gavin tilts his head back against the sofa, a laugh escaping his lips as embarrassment takes over his body. “Really?” He raises his eyebrows in Nines’ direction. “You’re never gonna let that go. Phck.” He rolls his eyes with a chuckle. “You know what? It was a mistake. That’s what it was.”

Nines turns his full body to face Gavin on the sofa, pulling one knee off the table to bend between them when Dipshit runs off to the floor. His whole face is covered in a smirk the detective won’t be able to avoid. He detects that Gavin’s heartrate picks up, but he doesn’t back down.

“It, a,” Reed stalls, sucking a breath in through his teeth. “Just a, a temporary quick fix, you know?”

Nines fixes him an amused expression. It’s obvious neither of them believes him.

“I don’t know, Detective,” Nines draws out slowly before turning to face the tv. “If it were me, I would’ve waited until I was assigned to go undercover at an exclusive BDSM club with my hot partner before going deviant, but uh,” he turns to face Gavin again, “That’s just me.”

Tina would probably love to frame the shocked expression on Gavin’s face right now. His eyes are blown, hair still wet from his recent shower, lips creating the perfect ‘o’ shape as he stares dumbfounded at the android sat opposite him. The longer he looks, the bigger the smirk on Nines’ face gets. This is satisfying.

“Wait.” Gavin blinks like a hundred times, trying to catch up. “Hold on. Going deviant? Are you a deviant?”

Nines looks up to the apartment ceiling. No time better than now to tell him. “Connor thinks I am going down the path of deviancy, yes.”

“Okay, put the rest of that on hold. We can come back to the rest of that later,” he says with a pointed look. “But what happened? I kinda got the feeling this morning that something was off.”

When Nines looks back down, Gavin has moved his feet off the table and placed them beneath him, now giving Nines his full attention. He blows out a puff of air. “Amanda is Cyberlife’s version of Captain Fowler. She’s who I reported to regarding the progress of our mission. I hadn’t seen her the last couple of times I went into stasis. I was naïve, I guess. I should have known. Every time I went under it just kept getting worse and worse.” His voice tightens, but Gavin’s eyes never leave his face. “Last night it was calm. Better than the time before. I thought things were going to be okay,” he lets out a pitiful laugh.

Gavin nods in front of him, encouraging him to continue. Silent but comforting.

“Everything was frozen in midair. When I tried to walk it was like weights were holding me down. And when I looked at my feet the ground wasn’t acting normal, like, it was dirt one second, and then snow the next. And as I pushed further towards the pavilion where I usually meet Amanda things just kept getting worse.” He pauses, taking a heavy breath. “The snow was coming up behind me – well I thought it was snow, but it was just white nothingness – and it was just eating away at everything I knew. The pavilion was gone. Amanda was gone. I was fighting these invisible forces and when I finally got to where she should’ve been there was a singular rose. One of hers.”

He closes his eyes as he remembers, pain evident on his face. He can feel Gavin reach out and squeeze his forearm, but he doesn’t open them. “When I,” another breath. “When I went to reach for it, the ground had swallowed part of my legs. I couldn’t get out. I thought if I could just get to the rose, if I could just touch it, everything would be okay. And for one blissful second, everything was.”

Nines takes several long, slow breaths, trying to keep his voice calm. “But when I touched it, it melted. This puddle started forming like a geyser had just been opened, blood-red liquid started pouring out of the ground, and I tried to push off the ground to free my legs but the ground was gone and there was nothing to hold onto and I could do nothing but try to stay above the surface but the liquid filled my lungs and my mouth as it drowned me. As she drowned me. In a sea of blood. Alone.”

He can’t even hear the tv when he finishes. It’s like the world has gone silent listening to him speak. He swallows once before opening his eyes and meeting Gavin’s. He’s much closer than Nines remembers, but he doesn’t care. Gavin takes his arm off of his, instead extending it around Nines’ body. He leans forward into Gavin’s chest, just breathing as the detective strokes his back reassuringly.

He doesn’t know how long they’ve sat like this. He doesn’t want to move, but he knows he probably should. “I don’t want to go back to Cyberlife,” he whispers. “I’m scared as shit, but I don’t want to relive that or forget my memories or be decommissioned like they’ll do to me.”

“Hey,” Gavin says softly, pulling Nines’ head up to look into his eyes. “You don’t have to go back there. You don’t have to forget. They won’t decommission you if you stay here. You’re okay here. The DPD needs you, okay?” He lets out a shy laugh when Nines cracks a smile. “I need you. Don’t go back there.”

All he can do is give an uneasy nod, but it’s enough.

“So much for not being able to deviate, huh?” he chuckles, giving Nines a half-smile.

The android huffs out a laugh. “Yeah.”

Dipshit has impeccable timing. She meows from the floor between them, splitting them up breaking any moment they might be having. Gavin laughs and shakes his head, and she takes that as permission to join them on the sofa. She curls back into Nines’ leg, still bent from facing the detective. A warm feeling fills the android’s body, accompanied with a small smile.

“I was right then.”

Gavin’s voice calls Nines’ attention away from petting the cat in his lap, curiosity settling on his face.

“She does like you better,” Reed grins, earning him a laugh. He turns his focus back to the tv, the silence between them amicable and something more trusted than before. Nines is caught off-guard once again by Gavin’s dramatic sigh a few minutes later. “Okay, are we even watching this? This show seems like shit,” he glances in Nines’ direction to the android’s bemused expression. “Oh good. Let’s just watch a movie or something. We only have like ten hours to kill or something. What’s your favorite Star Wars movie?”

Nines huffs out a laugh, a light blue dusting his cheeks. “We have roughly six hours, twenty-three minutes, and fifty-two seconds before we need to get ready, giving us ample time to arrive at Magnus’ place at 9PM.” He moves his eyes from the screen to the man sitting opposite. “Give or take a few seconds.”

Gavin is just staring at him, mouth agape in an entertained grin.

“And I’ve never seen a movie from the Star Wars franchise, so I am incapable of having a favorite.”

Reed closes his eyes and reopens them theatrically, like he’s trying to refresh his surroundings. “You’ve never seen a single Star Wars movie? Like, ever? C’mon, those are the classics, they shoulda programmed you guys to know everything about them!”

Nines’ rolls his eyes. “I could view all of the movies in less time than it would take you to blink. No, I’ve never sat down and watched a movie. Also, did you forget I was activated this week?”

A red color creeps up the detective’s neck and face. “Okay, phckin’ true. _My bad_ ,” he teases. “But seeing as you have literally nothing else to do for the next six hours or whatever-”

“Six hours, twenty-one minutes, and eighteen seconds.”

“-I’m going to force you to watch them like a normal, sane person.” Gavin flashes a cheeky grin before launching himself forward to grab the remote on the coffee table. Nines observes his movements from the side, ignoring anything happening on the television. The detective looks comfortable, wearing a fitted tee and a pair of sweatpants as well as a relatively new pair of fuzzy socks. When Gavin finishes setting up the tv, he turns and catches Nines’ gaze on him before flushing a light red.

“The originals first,” he says, clearing his throat and leaning back against the sofa with a small smile on his lips. And if he’s scooted just a tiny bit closer so his thigh grazes Nines’ knee, neither of them say anything.

********************************

“I’m just saying,” Gavin says between bites, the tv long forgotten as he sits at the kitchen island, “They might’ve wasted your potential. You could just quit the DPD at any time and be like a chef or something full time.”

Nines laughs from the sink, sleeves rolled up to avoid getting his turtleneck wet as he washes out his dishes. “While it sounds riveting, I don’t think chef androids come qualified to fight in combat, kill on sight, even have a forensic lab in their mouths. Besides, I might not know what it feels like to _like_ something, but I am certain I like working at the DPD.”

When Nines finishes drying the pots, he turns around to lean against the counter and cross his arms, a smile on his face. Gavin sighs dramatically. “I mean, your loss. You could be kicking back and using your mouth to taste food like this instead of dead people, but what do I know.” He puts his hands up in a passive manner, right hand still holding his fork.

“There are plenty of things for me to enjoy putting in my mouth without ever leaving the DPD, Detective,” Nines fixes him a smirk and a cocked eyebrow. Gavin chokes on the noodles he’s just placed in his mouth, coughing before grabbing his cup of water. “But what do I know?”

“Oh god, phck off,” Reed laughs, his cheeks a bright red from either embarrassment or intrigue, but it doesn’t matter. “Forget me being nice and complimenting your cooking. This just tastes exactly like my mom used to make. Maybe other people will hate that, and you would crash and burn in culinary practice.”

Nines rolls his eyes. “Maybe. But then again, other people might be just as easy to read and picking their favorite meals wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Wait, you can just tell that I like ziti? How the phck does that work?”

Nines cocks his eyebrow once again. “No. I just magically knew your mom’s recipe for ziti.” Gavin looks like he borders on believing him. “When are you going to realize I can access any document anyone has ever created online, even the recipes you saved on a Google Doc?”

“Hey! Those are private,” Gavin rebuttals, but his words hold no heat and he can’t keep the smile off his face. “I just made a list of comfort foods my mom used to make before she died a while back,” he says, tone more somber but fond. “It’s been a minute since I’ve tasted anything like she used to make. I couldn’t ever get it right and eventually gave up.”

Nines gives him a small reassuring nod. He doesn’t dare interrupt as Gavin’s face contorts from fond memories to something a bit harder, tougher.

“It was only a couple of years ago. She was fine one day, in the hospital on life support the next. I always felt like I should’ve been there, but I-” he swallows, using his fork to push a lone noodle around on his plate. “I couldn’t. I wasn’t _allowed_. By god, I wish I could’ve been there.” He shakes his head and stares vacantly at the plate in front of him.

Nines leans up from the counter and walks forward a step to the kitchen island, coming to a rest on his elbows. “Allowed?” he asks, quietly, curious but non-invasive, giving Reed the chance to back out. 

The detective chokes out a bitter laugh, dropping his fork to the plate and looking up at the ceiling. After a minute he seems to make up his mind. “You already probably know. His stupid insurance plan is the last thing that phcked me over. He kept me from her. From everyone. I got lucky that I found T and she kept me rational afterwards. He just, I don’t know. I guess I was naïve or just stupid and thought things were perfect and if I just did nothing wrong, things were going to be okay.” He scoffs and shakes his head. “Right after she died, he phcked off. Left me with nothing, to be with whoever his piece-of-the-week was. Used me up and then left me like some phckin’ garbage on the side of the street.”

He leans forward, taking his glass and sipping slowly, the room filled only by the background noise of the tv and the night traffic outside the window.

“Guess I’m glad I’m out of there. Been here ever since,” he motions to the bare apartment. He takes a deep breath and clears his throat. “Anyway. God, enough of my tragic backstory. What time is it?”

Nines looks behind him to the stove to check the clock, despite that he knows they have gone overtime. “A few after 7:30.”

“Oh phck, why didn’t you say something? We’re gonna be late because of my stupid life story,” Gavin chuckles, placing his glass down and hoping off the bar stool.

Nines tilts his head to the side, eyeing Gavin as he comes around the island to put his dish in the sink and chug the remainder of his water. “Better to be fashionably late anyway,” Nines says with a small smile and a twinkle in his eyes. 

Gavin turns to meet his eyes, the space between them feeling closer than just a few feet. “I guess,” he smiles mischievously. “We wouldn’t look like pros if we were on time. I suppose we should get changed then, yeah?” The detective sends him a wink before heading to his bedroom and closing the door behind him, leaving Nines staring in his wake.

[ **Gavin Reed: Trusted** ]

Nines smiles fondly at the notification before blowing out a puff of air. Tonight might just be the death of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! :)


	15. Coming?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undercover at an _even more_ exclusive club - what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this one...definitely had some good inspiration from @marndraws on tumblr - please go see their beautiful artwork and send lots of love!
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

Gavin likes it better in. It’s only for tonight, unless they have to go undercover again. Not that Nines would mind going undercover to a sex club with the detective again. Gavin just likes to see his LED. He can put it back in once they get back ~~home~~ to Gavin’s apartment tonight. He sighs as he pushes the pencil tip beneath the ring once again, popping it off into the sink. His skin quickly fills the gap left behind. Nines looks up into the bathroom mirror, turning his head to inspect his face. That damn piece of hair keeps falling to his forehead. They don’t have time to worry about that right now. Fuck. What time is it?

Nines steps back from the sink to check his appearance. The harness sits on the counter next to him where he placed it after taking it on and off again, with and without a shirt, to determine the best look. Magnus said he wanted something different tonight. Instead the android has forgone the harness, opting to keep his turtleneck and the latex pants from the night before. To spice things up, he’ll be wearing slick black gloves that end just before the sleeves of his shirt, exposing the slimmest of bare skin, and a studded belt that hangs asymmetrical on his waist, one side with layered silver chains and the other with the handcuffs he stole from Gavin’s locker. He’s tucked his favorite piece into the side of his boot, only visible if someone is looking for it. Perfect. 

He smirks to himself with a wink before opening the bathroom door and turning off the light. Dipshit is staring at him expectantly from the kitchen island. He shoots her a smile, silently thanking her for distracting him from thinking about what is going on behind Gavin’s bedroom door right now. Nines treads to the coat rack quickly, stuffing the gloves inside the pockets of the black coat he’ll be using again tonight. He then moves behind the island to feed and coo at the cat as he waits. It’s already 8:14PM. When he said fashionably late, he didn’t mean two hours.

He rolls his eyes. His task to call out and ask for Gavin’s progress is cut short by the opening of the bedroom door. Nines stands from his kneeling position over the cat and brings his attention to the man entering the room. He turns, mouth hanging agape as his eyes take in what the detective is wearing.

The same boots as the previous night give him a little extra height. But this time, Gavin’s legs are covered with sheer thigh highs held up by a black garter belt. The black and white frill of the thigh highs matches the frill on the bottom of the outfit he is wearing. Nines eyes rake up his body to find his chest exposed in a heart-shaped cutout of an avant-garde maid’s outfit. The sleeves are short, as is the dress, exposing his long arms and thick upper thighs. The dress neckline has a white fringe conjoined in the middle, matching the frill that rides up either side of his chest. On top of his head sits a pair of black cat ears used to hold his hair over the device in his ear. Nines barely has time to register Gavin walking towards him before something is placed in his hand and he’s staring at the skin on the back of Gavin’s neck.

After a beat, Gavin turns his head a bit backward to catch Nines’ eyes. “What, are you going to make me beg for your help?” he asks coyly, voice smoothing over as it dips low.

Nines blinks at the back of his head when he turns back around. The android looks down to his hand where Gavin has placed the collar he purchased. Right. Yes. He should be putting this on right now. He steps forward slightly, almost flush with Gavin’s backside as he drapes the choker around the detective’s neck. He takes his time to clasp it, fingers touching the skin more than necessary and his silent breath ghosting over Gavin’s shoulder before he removes his hands.

Gavin’s hand comes up to toy with the heart pendant in the middle of the collar as he gives Nines a quick wink before sauntering over to the front door. The android is captivated, frozen in place as he watches the skirt of the outfit bounce with every step, exposing just a bit more of Gavin’s thighs each time.

“Coming?” Gavin calls from the front door, looking back over his shoulder with a smirk as he grabs a coat big enough to cover his body. “I thought you wanted to only be a _little_ fashionably late,” he teases before biting at his bottom lip. Nines can only stare after him as the door closes between them. Hurriedly, he shakes his head and sprints to grab his coat, tossing a ‘Bye!’ to Dipshit as he follows in Gavin’s wake.

If he ever had a reason to carry a knife, Nines thinks he could use it to cut the sexual tension in the taxi right now. Gavin is pretending to be interested in the scenery as they drive through the city, hands rubbing up and down his thighs, massaging the skin to give them something to do. Nines is pretending to not be thinking about that and is pointedly facing forward at the road. He should do something, _anything_ , to distract himself from stopping the taxi before they even make it to Magnus’.

Uh. Update. Yes. He should give Fowler an update. He quickly types an email informing the captain that they are on their way to Magnus’ place – with the plan for building trust and hopefully getting a confession – adding the address in case of emergency. Fowler never responded to his report from this morning, but it’s Sunday. He can cut him a little slack.

The clearing of Gavin’s throat brings his attention back to the car. “Is that a crop?” the detective asks innocently, pointing to the object sticking out of Nines’ boot. Gavin is feigning the most naïve expression as he blinks up at the android. So that’s how he wants to be. Fine.

Nines slips his hands into the pockets of his coat, gently removing the gloves he had placed in there just a half hour ago. Gavin’s eyes are trained on his movement as he slowly, sensually, glides them onto his fingers. He reaches a hand down to pull the item out of his combat boot, holding it up over the other hand as he admires it for a moment in the streetlights. Gavin jumps when the crop cracks against Nines’ gloved palm, spiking his heartrate.

The android tilts his head to face the man in the seat next to him, eyes half-lidded as he takes in Gavin’s reaction. When they make eye contact, Nines watches his adam’s apple slide up and down as he swallows loudly. He’s not sure if Gavin could be any more aroused than he is right now. Nines smirks as he trails the crop down his leg and back into the boot, then looks back out the window. He can feel Gavin practically radiating heat from beside him, but he doesn’t speak. His heartrate never slows as they finally arrive at Magnus’ address, a large building he must own on the outer city limits.

The taxi rolls to a stop on the poorly lit street. Gavin takes a shaky breath as his fingers reach for the door handle to head outside. Instead, the head of the crop on his chin turns his face back to Nines. The android is leaned over the middle seat, his face inches from Gavin’s when he turns.

“Don’t speak. I’ll handle Magnus. We just need incriminating information or a confession,” Nines’ voice lowers as he continues, “If we get separated and you need me, tap twice.” He trails the crop up Gavin’s jaw to his ear. “But don’t communicate over it unless absolutely necessary,” his eyes search between the detective’s as he smooths the crop back down to his chin, this time tilting it up to expose more of his neck. “Do you understand?”

Gavin tries to nod, but his head is held still by the crop. “Yes,” he manages to whisper, voice heavy with lust.

Nines digs the crop up further, hitching Gavin’s breath in his throat. “Yes what?”

“Yes sir.”

Nines smirks, an inch from Gavin’s face. “Good boy,” he praises as he flicks the crop off the detective’s chin. His eyes are filled with desire as Nines pushes him back to the seat to climb over him and exit the taxi. 

The fresh air floods his lungs as he steps out onto the street, cooling his systems that feel like they are on fire. There is a lone car on the street, an expensive foreign car Magnus probably owns, so there is no one to see Gavin stumble out of the car behind him. 

The taxi peels off after the door closes, leaving them in silence to face the building. Nines takes the first steps forward, holding the front door open. A good whip of the crop to the ass keeps Gavin on his toes and stimulated as they head inside. The lobby is bare, only a bench opposite a large elevator to fill the bland space. Apparently, Magnus leaves all of his eccentric choices for the weekends. The elevator doors open to a dimly lit carriage. Gavin slips inside and faces the buttons as Nines follows.

“Nice.” The android looks to the buttons to find whatever Reed could be describing. There are 68 floors to this building, meaning Magnus’ penthouse must be on the 69th. Nines rolls his eyes and leans the crop in front of Gavin to press the penthouse floor button. The doors close in front of them, and Nines pushes the crop into Gavin’s cheek, turning his face to meet the android’s.

Nines gives him a condescending stare. “Already disobeying. Are you bad at directions or just eager to be punished?” he asks, voice husky as his breath ghosts over Gavin’s lips. He doesn’t have time to answer before the elevator dings and the doors open. The android smirks at him and exits, headed down a short hall towards the source of the music.

Gavin forces a breath and lurches forward after him distractedly, catching up to add his coat to the one Nines has stripped and added to the hooks on the wall. Most of the hooks in the hall are occupied, as well as a multitude of shoes crammed around. So much for a more exclusive meeting. Nines huffs out a _this-is-stupid_ laugh as he strips his shoes to add to Gavin’s in the collection. They share a final glance before Nines grabs the handle on the only door in the hall and swings it open.

The music is sweet, sensual, flirtatious, as it fills the air of the penthouse. It’s warm, lights lit lowly to give the room an erotic feel as people fill most of the surfaces. Closest to them sits a group of four, sharing drinks and heated looks while a man hangs in a complicated rope embellishment, mere feet from their heads. This is the first time Nines wishes his system wouldn’t recognize people easily. Although his mouth is stuffed with a ball gag, it’s easy to identify Davey as he suspends from the ceiling. He _really_ wishes he could leave the sight to his imagination and not his current view.

He feels Gavin’s hand sneak into his unoccupied one as he surveys the floor. A triple is sharing a sex swing across the room, another couple engaged in a passionate session on a sofa, groups of drunk individuals getting handsy no matter the direction he looks.

“Richard!” An elated voice booms to their left. Magnus approaches them with a large grin and bare chest. In his left hand he holds a leash that is attached to the man following behind him. Well. That Nines surmises is a man. His face is covered completely with latex, a zipper drawn down to keep it secure. The only indication would be the anatomy openly greeting the pair as he comes to a halt beside Magnus. 

Nines knows he and Gavin are thinking the same thing right now: Magnus wasn’t kidding about dressing kinkier today. Or not dressing, rather. He doesn’t have time to act surprised because Magnus is already extending a hand to shake his own. “Mister M,” he greets politely.

Magnus boasts a loud laugh. “We don’t gotta do any of that formal shit here. M is just fine.” Nines flashes him a smile and a nod, squeezing Gavin’s hand discreetly. Magnus plows on. “Well, come in, come in. No need to be shy. Why don’t I show you ‘round? Get acquainted with the place before you dive in, yeah?”

“That would be great, M. Thank you,” Nines says warmly, voice hiding any discomfort he may be feeling. Magnus turns his back and heads along the left wall. Nines looks down at Gavin to see he is making the same incredulous face as the android. He huffs a quiet laugh for only the detective to hear before taking after Magnus, gently tugging on Gavin’s hand. It might be useful for the Reed to have a tour, but the android has already mapped out the entire layout. He nods and acts thoughtful as Magnus shows them the curved hall of backrooms, “If you’d like to take things a bit more private,” he’d said with a dark chuckle, the unisex bathroom in the middle, with showers preoccupied, and back to the main room. 

What Nines wasn’t expecting was the wall Magnus places his hand on to slide aside and reveal a set of stairs. A cold breeze hits the pair as they follow Magnus and his leashed sub to the rooftop. The music here is faster paced, more stimulating than in the penthouse. They barely have time to register the large group of people engaging in an orgy in the freezing February air before Magnus moves to the bar. The grip of Gavin’s hand on his tightens – it’s obvious large crowds or the height has the detective on edge.

Magnus has been talking about something, something about the cost of the penthouse or building the bar on top but Nines can hardly pay attention with all of the noise coming from behind them. They come to a rest at the bar, Magnus leaning against the counter and Nines taking a seat on a stool facing him. The man couldn’t care less about having their focus, instead talking because he likes the sound of his voice. Gavin tugs on Nines sleeve, looking anywhere but at the group making obscene moans and cries at their backs. After evaluating the scene, the android pulls him sideways onto his legs, using one strong arm to wrap around the detective’s back and hold him still on his lap.

Magnus finally makes him an offer for a drink. “Whiskey, neat,” he nods with a half-smile.

“And his?” he asks, eyes raking Gavin’s figure on top of his lap.

_Trust me_ , Nines relays to Gavin’s earpiece. He startles slightly, but nods when his eyes meet the android’s.

“None. Someone didn’t behave on the way here,” he says, cocking an eyebrow at Magnus which gets him a laugh.

“Ah. Happens to the best of us,” he says with a shake of the head. The sound of glass sliding against the counter draws their attention to the bar. To Nines’ right, a woman wearing only a tight corset that sits just below her breasts is slinging his drink across the marble. Nines catches it with ease, and she winks at him before sipping on her straw seductively.

“Ah, my lovely partner in crime, Gina,” Magnus announces, raising a hand in the woman’s direction.

“Richard,” Nines greets, leaning over to extend a hand while the other holds onto Gavin’s waist. Gina shimmies her hand into his, holding on much longer than necessary – apparent to everyone at the bar. Nines cuts her a curt nod and drops her hand before thanking her for the drink. He turns back to Magnus, lightly rubbing on Gavin’s side. Magnus has a knowing grin on his face, passing a look between the android and the woman.

“I think,” Magnus starts, “Gina has something she would like to discuss with you, Richie,” he finishes with a loud chuckle. Before Nines can respond, he continues. “Why don’t I take this one downstairs to be with the other kitties, yeah?” Gavin’s heartrate and skin temperature increase at his discussion. Nines tilts his head as he considers the offer.

_Fuck_ , he says over the earpiece. _This might be the best way to get information from him if you gain his trust._ He turns his head to look at the detective, searching his eyes for a decision. _Will you be okay alone with him?_

__To Magnus, Gavin’s nod would just look like the sub is ready to go._ _

__“Okay.” Nines nods slowly before returning his eyes to Magnus._ _

__The man breaks into a large grin, showing off too many teeth. “Great! You can find us downstairs when you two finish up. But,” He wags his eyebrows suggestively, “do take your time.” Magnus extends a hand in Gavin’s direction, silently requesting their leave._ _

__“But first,” Nines stops Magnus before leaning into Gavin’s ear just as he is about to get off the android’s lap. “See if you can find that carpet the fiber could have come from,” he whispers, barely audible so neither of the other parties can hear. “Tap if you need me,” Nines says before turning Gavin’s chin to face him once again. There’s something unsaid behind Reed’s eyes, but they don’t have time to say anything more before Magnus clears his throat. Gavin gives the slightest nod in Nines’ palm before jumping off and reluctantly offering a hand to Magnus._ _

Nines adjusts his position in the stool and watches them leave to head back to the party below. Gavin gives him a final glance before they depart, pleading _something_ silently. Nines opens his mouth to call out, to withdraw his offer, take Gavin back, but a hand on his forearm distracts him. 

____“Now, where were we?” Gina asks sensually, her deep red nails traveling from his forearm to his chest. Somehow, she’s moved to the seat next to him undetected and is groping at his skin like her life depends on it. God, he thinks. What he wouldn’t give to be taking Gavin back to the apartment right now instead._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh you know what is about to go down....
> 
> Let me know what you think ;)


	16. Flunitrazepam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines is left alone with Gina, without a word from Gavin. Something just seems too good to be true...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have taken a couple of classes in self-defense, so any of the fighting scenes you may encounter in the next chapters are all realistic moves I've practiced and completed (I wouldn't say mastered though...). So, please enjoy!
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

She’s talking about something, buzzing, filling the space with things he doesn’t care about. He knows he should be paying attention to her, faking conversation, but his focus is waiting for feedback from Gavin’s earpiece. He pleads for anything from the detective, any reason to leave. It’s irrelevant what Gina has to say; she’s small but robust, hardly the type to commit a murder, let alone rip an android apart. God, he should have just gone with them. Not stuck nodding along mindlessly to a boring woman of no import. Fuck.

After a few minutes of no response from the detective, Nines turns his face to converse with Gina rather than just listen to her talk. Gavin must be fine, he tells himself. If Nines is (more than) a little envious that the detective is off having a good time with someone else, no one would ever know.

“So, how did you and Magnus meet?” he asks as the conversation dwindles, picking his glass up with his left hand while Gina is gripping his right thigh and leaning towards him, face inches from his own. Damn, she’s gotten close when he wasn’t paying attention. He needs to focus. Even if he’d really, _really_ prefer to have Gavin here instead, back on his lap, flush against him or maybe where Gina is n-

“Magnus?” She interrupts his intrusive thoughts with an inquisitive note. “We’ve known each other for a while now – when we were both much younger, he and I were glued at the hip. These days, he’s a busy man and I’m the only one who can fulfill his needs, if you know what I mean.” Gina winks and wiggles her eyebrows as she finishes.

“Hm,” Nines hums impassively, hovering the drink near his mouth. “I would’ve thought he got his fill from the ones he keeps on leashes.” Sounds like Magnus has her on a leash anyway. He huffs a dark laugh and looks back over to the bar. Mentally he’s banging his head on the counter just to get out of listening to her try to entice him every sentence. Not interested lady.

Gina is watching him hungrily, eyes raking his every move. She’ll go insane trying to read him. He’s tempted to roll his eyes but really should make some excuse to get out of here and reunite with his partner. But Gavin didn’t indicate he was in trouble, and to leave might give him a bad rep if they need to come back. It would be good for Gina to like him, so that he can perhaps have someone on the inside who knows Magnus well. Instead of leaving, he takes a sip of the chestnut liquor in his glass as she talks idly at him. The moment the liquid reaches his sensors, he freezes.

[ **SPRINKBANK 1919: 37.5% Vol., Bottled 1958** ]

[ **Flunitrazepam “Rohypnol” Content: 2300ug/L** ]

Is he reading that right? She’s…she’s trying to drug him. His system tells him that the concentration is over 200 times the needed content for an overdose. Fuck. If he were human, this would kill him in less than twenty minutes. If he let Gavin have a sip, he’d already be dead. FUCK. He should’ve watched the drink be made. He should’ve realized she already had two drinks prepared. This was planned.

In a split second, Nines sends a message to the detective. _I don’t know how, but Gina has something to do with this. She’s spiked the whiskey with a date-rape drug and is trying to get me out of here. I should have realized. I’ll have to follow her to get more information if she is the real murderer._

Shit. He needs to make a plan. How is he going to get out of this? Gina has two hands on him now, roaming over his chest and the rest of his body, caressing, groping. He has to act drugged if he’s going to make this work. She’s whispering in his ear all of the things he’s sure another person would want to hear right now, but not him. Least of all him. 

_Hello?_ The detective hasn’t acknowledged this break in the case. His thirium pump starts to pulse a bit faster. Detective? He asks urgently. Radio silence. 

_Please just tap, even once. Can you hear me?_

Nothing.

Fear starts to set in, prickling his skin as his synthetic blood runs cold and drains from his face. Something is very wrong. He isn’t responding and Gina is trying to drug him. This has to be a fucking set up. He needs to get to Gavin. Fuck the mission – Gavin’s life is more important than hearing this woman say one or two incriminating things and get a couple of years.

Nines staggers to stand, letting her think he’s been drugged as he scans the floor below for Gavin’s heat signature. Fuck, there are so many people and Magnus knows the building better than the two of them combined. He’s probably dragged Gavin down a couple floors for discretion, keeping him behind sound-proof doors. He needs to think fast. Her voice draws his attention back to the bar, to the drink, to her.

“Funny,” Gina says to his face as she leans onto the counter, eyes undressing him, “How you knew Magnus’ name though he only ever goes by M.”

Shit. His body grows even colder. How could he have slipped up so easily? He should have never let Gavin go and he should have realized what was going to happen. Gina seemed so innocent, so trivial in the middle of this big murder investigation. Fuck.

Nines moves forward to get out of Gina’s grasp, to find the detective, but his movements are blocked by an angry, bright red wall.

[ **Mission: Find Perpetrator** ]

Fuck. He needs to listen to her say something, anything to take her in, to complete his mission. Do what Cyberlife intended him to do – so he won’t be a failure, so he won’t be decommissioned. To save himself.

“I don’t have to tell him, you know,” she purrs in his ear. “You and me, we could take this downstairs, grab a back room and sort this all out,” she seduces, the grip on his forearm tightening. This isn’t an offer, he knows. She’s going to do anything to get her way, to get him alone. Drugged. Hidden. But Gavin’s time is limited.

He steps forward this time, glaring at the red obstacle as it reappears. He’s in his subconscious, he realizes; she can’t see what he’s looking at. It buys him time. This is his code, his command that keeps him operational. His own personal safeguard against deviancy.

[ **MISSION: FIND PERPETRATOR** ]

_Gavin?_

Silence.

He takes a deep breath. Fuck the mission. They can come back another time.

He pushes against the wall in front of him. It depresses with strain where he places his hands. It can be broken, he realizes. He barely pauses before swinging a first forward and sending small, rigid shards around his subconscious that pierce into his skin.

Gavin. He needs to get to Gavin. He shouldn’t have left him.

Another punch. Harder, faster, more determined. He knew better. He should have known better. His incompetence could cost the detective his life.

Another.

Fuck this wall, fuck this mission, fuck everything. The only thing that matters is getting around this wall. Larger shards shatter at his hand, afloat in this hidden memory tearing apart his skin as he breaks down this wall, breaking himself.

Gina is enfolding him, one hand caressing his upper body and the other further and further up his legs. Too close. Up onto his neck, tracing his jaw, running through his hair. Closer and closer. It’s too much.

He needs to get to Gavin.

Before it’s too late.

He takes a deep breath. Bracing himself. 

For Gavin.

Nines raises both hands and swings them down onto the red wall, with the force Cyberlife intended to kill humans, slaughtering the remainder of the glass that holds him back. He pushes forward, stumbling as he breaks through his own system. The glass no longer cuts him open, no longer contains him.

He blinks. The mission is gone from his peripherals. 

[ **I AM DEVIANT** ]

His head is…quiet. Clear. 

He is free.

A voice brings him back to the present. Gina. She’s looking at him curiously. His memories creep back. She still thinks he’s been drugged. Gavin. Fuck. Gavin. Something is wrong. He has to get down to him. Find him before it’s too late. Nines shakes his head. He doesn’t want to think about what might happen if he can’t get out of here fast enough. His thoughts are jumbled, scrambled in his brain as he tries to think. A plan. He needs a plan.

He needs to subdue her. Get her out of the way. He can no longer ignore her – she tried to drug him and caught his mistake. Fuck.

“…Gina,” He fake slurs, grabbing her attention. Yeah, fuck. “y’were talkin’ about findin’ a room?”

Her eyes dilate to the edge of her pupils. Good. His façade is working.

“Yes baby,” she purrs. Her mouth looks weird. “D’you wanna-”

“Take me there.” He asserts, feigning interest, desire, lust as Gina bites her bottom lip. God, she’ll believe anything he says right now. Whatever it takes to get back downstairs and out of the way without causing a scene.

“Come with me,” she whispers sultrily as she grabs his hand. He doesn’t have time to grab the crop from the counter before she’s interlocking their fingers and pulling him towards the stairs. Act drugged. Lazy, discombobulated steps follow behind her as he sways and tugs backwards on her hand. Guess it’s a good thing he had Gavin to study to know how to act like a drunk human.

_Gavin?_ he calls. Nothing. Something is severely wrong. His body heats up, blood boiling at the thought of losing the detective. What good is he at being Cyberlife’s most advanced android if he can’t even protect his partner? Fuck.

He pretends to be looking around in self-consciousness as she leads him down to the first room on the right, though he is analyzing every movement on the floor for Gavin’s face, his body, anything. The detective isn’t among anyone in the main room, or behind the wall with tables. Nines doesn’t have more time to examine anywhere else before he is face to face with Gina in the dimly lit bedroom.

It’s nearly soundproof. Little to no music from the main hall bleeds into the backroom as they enter. Gina drops his hand, and Nines busies himself closing the door firmly and evaluating the layout of the room. To his left is an open door that leads to a bathroom conjoined to the next room. To the right of that door is a window, though high he could easily reach it and take the fire escape. He could always leave the way they came, but anyone in the main room could see him. Fuck. He’s spent too much time standing here. He just hopes that Gina thinks he’s dizzy or slowed down from the Rohypnol dosage.

Nines turns to the large bed in the center of the room. She is fully undressed now, the corset laying on the floor beside the bed, and donning only heels. Her eyes are half-lidded when his meets hers, and she pats the bed to her right seductively. Dread sets in as he realizes what he is about to do. God, fuck.

He searches for the Eden Club android code. He just needs to know what will distract her before he can get to Gavin. He downloads the first thing he can find, analyzing the protocol and movements instantly. Now or never.

He takes his time, tottering a little to play his part. His fingers tease at the edge of his turtleneck, lifting just enough for her to get a glimpse of his toned abs and flushed skin. He watches her eyes hungrily seize his body, his every movement. He understands why those sex androids wanted out; being a piece of meat for human consumption is disgusting.

His steps are small, measured to keep her distracted as he pulls the turtleneck off in one leisurely swoop. Her hands have gripped the sheets on either side of her where she rests, anticipation and arousal written over her entire body. He just needs to catch her off-guard.

He tosses the turtleneck to the side, bearing his chest for her to indulge. She tilts her head back, just enough to keep her eyes on him as well as display her long, open neck for Nines to observe. He runs his hands down his body to entice her, hooking his fingers on the studded belt he wears, and places his left knee on the bed. Gina lays all the way back, arms above her head as he crawls between her thighs and on top of her body. Her pupils are blown, her heartrate increased as she anticipates his next move. 

He shouldn’t be nervous, taking his time to plan and not fuck this up, but she seems to think he is taking too long. She wraps both legs around his torso and shifts her body weight to flip him beneath her. She rolls her body where she sits on top of him, showing off her physique. 

A sudden mischievous twinkle in her eyes alerts Nines to her movements. She moves her hands from caressing her own body down to his neck, taking time to feel his skin and learn the shape of his adam’s apple. A sly grin makes its way to her mouth as she tightens the grip of her hands around his neck. When his breath doesn’t hitch, she squeezes harder. Confusion draws on her face when he doesn’t react, doesn’t seem fazed. She grips his neck harsher than before, digging her nails into his synthetic skin. The pressure exposes his white chassis, shocking Gina for a full moment.

In her eyes sits disbelief as her grip loosens and the chassis disappears. “How did you-” Realization dawns on her, her bewildered expression morphing into loathing and rage. “I can’t fucking believe this. You guys never leave well enough alone, do you?” A sickened laugh barks out of her. Any of her appeal has gone down the drain, weighed down by her revulsion.

She’s leaning backwards, arching her back and moving her arms behind her slowly, like she wants her actions to go unnoticed. “What is it with you plastics? Are you here to take him away from me too? Just like that android bitch he took out on his _expensive vacations_ without me. A bunch of fucking tools.” She scoffs, raising her voice, “You might be pretty, but I won’t let you have him. Not this time! Not again!”

Her hands are reaching down to her heels, ready to peel them off and stab the android beneath her. Nines’ hands halt her movements, grabbing onto her wrists and keeping the potential weapons just out of her grasp. When she tries to move more, he blocks her actions. She looks back at her hands, trying to twist out of his grip, but he is holding her firmly. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Let go of me!”

A coy smile forms on Nines’ lips as she struggles. When she catches sight of it, her writhing slows as confusion braces her forehead.

“DPD’s best.”

Nines pulls down on her hands, dragging her head forward as her body complies. In a swift move, he releases her hands and brings his own to the sides of her head then cracks his own head up into hers. While she is stunned, he bucks his hips up, throwing her body up and to the left before he swings his right knee into her rib cage and uses the momentum to flip her beneath him as he leaps off the side of the bed.

He only has a second to catch his balance before Gina is rolling off the other side of the bed and bracing herself. “I fucking hate androids. You think you’re so much better than humans and take away the things we love. I can’t fucking stand you!” She’s screaming, but the walls quiet the noise and overheard voices would never raise suspicion to anyone at the club. On the table beneath the window, she grabs a well-worn and sturdy paddle. She tests it against her hand before turning to face Nines. She’s stronger than she looks. He definitely underestimated that before.

Gina charges at him, two hands on the paddle as she tries to lob it at his head like a bat. At the last second, he sidesteps her, letting her stumble forward as he grabs the arm closest to him. He twists it behind her back, pulling up to incapacitate her. She uses her other hand to swing the paddle over her head to split the center of Nines’ skull. He releases her arm but snaps his other hand up to snag the paddle out of her hands, ripping it from her grip as he backs up.

She stumbles to regain composure, turning on her heel with her hands up to go after him again. “You’re just like the rest of those pigs,” she spits out between stunted breaths. “You’ll get what you deserve.”

Nines rolls his eyes at her prepared speech. Before she can continue, he dashes forward and smacks end of the paddle into the middle of her face. She trips backwards, her hands coming up to cling on her face. She pauses before hatred fills her eyes and she wipes at the blood dripped from her nose. She almost looks intimidating.

He takes a step forward waiting for her next move. She’s buying herself time, rotating her position in a dangerous effort to catch him off guard. They slowly spin, her movements jolted from her injuries, blood dripping down her open chest and onto the floor. Nines’ erect poise never changes, blue dripping down his forehead onto his nose and mouth. 

He bounces the paddle against his hand one time, triggering Gina. She rushes forward with false bravado and ill-placed courage. Nines doesn’t hesitate to block her movements, grabbing and pushing her arms out of the way with his left arm. She’s twisted to the side, and he takes his opportunity to smash his elbow into the side of her face, shoving her down as she cracks her head against the corner of the side table.

Nines stands over her body, breaths heavy as he evaluates the situation and releases the paddle. She isn’t dead, just unconscious, and the blood loss won’t be fatal. When his breathing slows and his thoughts are linear, he reaches to his belt to grab the hand cuffs he took from Gavin’s locker forever ago. His hand comes up empty, and he panics as he looks down to find restraints. They aren’t on his person, or the floor. Dread fills his veins as he panics, tearing around the room to find the cuffs. Under the bed is empty, though he isn’t surprised to see used condoms and varying bodily fluids. He rolls Gina’s body to the side, but they aren’t under her. He rips the sheets off the bed, despite never going under them. A small clunk on the floor tells him the cuffs must’ve fallen off during their wrestling on the bed.

He blows out a puff of air. Right now is not a good time to have a panic attack. He brushes it off with a shake of the head and centers himself after a second. Quickly, he wraps the handcuffs tightly around Gina’s wrists and picks up her limp body. He carries her to the other side of the bed, laying her on the floor and out of sight of the door. He grabs her heels and corset, tossing them onto the body. Hah. The first day of his investigation he noticed the same thing on the victim.

Satisfied with his work, he hurriedly steps through the bathroom door to escape to the next room, missing the reflection blood that cakes his elbow and torso. There’s only one thing on his mind. _Gavin_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh it's about to go down...


	17. Buddy-Buddy Cop Duo or Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines is going to do whatever it takes to get back to Gavin and get out of this hell hole - but at what cost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, you wanted a fight scene with some angst? Coming right up. Please do enjoy.
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

Nines softly closes the door of the bathroom from the room over. Anyone who comes in here would not notice Gina’s body right away, giving him extra time to make his escape. He’s lucky that no one has occupied the room adjacent to their fight and did not hear any of the struggle or the crack of her head as her body hit the side table. Relief temporarily courses through his body – at least part of his plan is working so far. Now he just needs to find the detective and get the fuck out.

He steps forward to the door leading to the hall but pauses as his hand reaches for the nob. There’s blue blood on the side and back of his hand, mixed in Gina’s red. Fuck. He rushes to the bed in the second room and scrubs his face and hands to remove the blue. He doesn’t want to give away his position if Magnus gets the jump on him. It might be futile if Gina found a way to contact him before Nines can find them, but it could be important were he to run into someone. Satisfied, he abrasively discards the used sheet and sprints back to the door.

It’s slightly ajar, letting the club members know the room is unoccupied and available for use. Nines quietly peaks his head out, looking down the length of the hall to see that the door is just out of view from the main room. Perfect. He dashes out, leaving the door as he found it before taking off down the hallway away from the guests.

He slows by the first door on the right, desperate to hear Gavin’s voice. The sounds coming from the closest room are full of moans from more than one female, but no male. He turns on his heel to enter the large bathroom in the center.

“Gav-Garrett?” he calls, soft but urgent as his voice echoes in the empty space. There is no answer, and no one else in the bathroom to hear his desperation. The group of people in here before must’ve found somewhere else to reside and continue their activities. He stalks back out the same door frame, determined to find his partner. 

The second closest door hides a man’s cry and desperate, wordless begging. Fear floods his system, and Nines silently turns the doorknob, eyes peeled as he surveys his surroundings. Random articles of clothing litter the floor, drinks on the side table and cups upended as he opens the door gradually, noiselessly, to not give away his position. The whimpering gets louder as it escapes through the gap of air he’s created. Nines sneaks his head in, soundlessly turning to evaluate the situation.

An unclothed man is sitting upright on the edge of the bed, arms bound behind his back with thick black cord. The moans and whimpers are forced around the ball gag in his mouth, held by matching black straps that meet at the back of his head. Tears muddled with black eyeliner run down his cheeks. A woman is standing in front of him, wearing a floor length dress with an open slit up to her hip, her breasts exposed from the deep V neckline. She runs the crop in her hand up his chin, whispering gently in his ear. Nines blinks at the scene in front of him, then hastily returns the door to its closed position between them.

He shakes his head and steps forward, placing that memory out of mind. Whatever they were doing doesn’t involve the detective, so he needs to move on and get out of here. The next door is slightly open, and a furtive check reveals it is empty. Fuck. He needs to find Gavin. This has taken too much time already.

Frantically, Nines runs the length of the hallway. There are only a handful of rooms, but Gavin might not even be on this floor. He pauses, raising his heads above and behind his head as he breathes deeply, eyes closed, begging the tears not to come. Rational. Take a second. He focuses on controlling his breaths like Tina said. After a beat, he reopens his eyes. At the end of the hall, nearing the edge that comes back towards the main room, are a set of French doors with gold accents and gold knobs. Didn’t Magnus say something specific about this room earlier? Fuck, Nines should have been paying more attention during the tour.

He tears after it, sight set. His footsteps are inaudible as he nears the doors, slowing down for his audio processors to pick up any noise from the room. The room is virtually soundproof; he’s going to have to enter to be able to pick up anything. Shit. Okay. He can do this. Cautiously, he kneels down and opens the right-most door just a smidge. Magnus’ voice fills his head as he presses his ear to the gap in the door.

“S’was juss terrible,” he says to the room, slurring a little. “Tha’s why I had to take him out, you know? I mean, who could do that to your own son?” He sighs dramatically. “Doesn’ madder now. He got what ‘as comin’ to ‘im. Fuckin’ bastard.”

Nines draws his eyebrows together in confusion. His father? He remembers his father died an untimely and suspicious death. Did Magnus have something to do with that?

“But!” Magnus continues, more jovially this time. “If I hadn’ had done ‘im in, I wouldn’ have met you now, would I? Bes' thing that coulda happened to me.”

Gavin’s groan rips Nines’ train of thought. He’s _hurt_. Fuck! He needs to get in and overpower Magnus to get the detective out of there. Fuck. He pushes the door forward a little bit more, this time enough to poke his head through and analyze the layout. Magnus is standing to the right of the bed, drinking out of a dark tumbler and leaning against his cane. The cane. How did he never realize? His sensors focus in and investigate the object. It’s expensive, custom made, and sturdy. The amethyst rock on top is just for show. It’s been cut into a suitable shape for a hand to rest, and the center has been cut horizontal out all the way through – in a crude hexagon. It looks like a tire iron. For his company. Fuck.

Nines moves to stand, taking his head back out the door and generating a plan. Magnus’ back is mostly to him as he faces the bed, so he could sneak in through the door and hug the right wall to strike the man from behind. He takes a deep breath, releasing the tension in his body. He was made for this.

He pushes the door open more, slipping into the room and nearly closing it without making a sound. Magnus is still monologuing, but Nines’ attention is caught on the bed. Gavin’s body lays crumpled on the sheets, eyes closed and face scrunched is obvious distress. His blood runs cold. The detective is bruised, beaten, and actively bleeding. The earpiece is gone, the ears lost in the sea of articles on the floor along with the clothing he wore. His hands are bound to his feet behind him, a complicated rope configuration keeping his body firmly in place and unable to defend himself.

The rush of blood to his hears threatens to deafen him, boiling as hatred and venom take its place. Magnus is a dead man walking. Nines creeps along the wall, careful not to step on any items that reside on the floor. He stops when he reaches just right of Magnus, still unnoticed. From this angle, the android can see Gavin’s whole face. He’s battered, got a swollen eye and bruises along his jaw. A cut runs from the right eyebrow to the center of the forehead, dripping vertically down onto the sheets in a coagulated puddle. Nines steps forward, taking in the best move to incapacitate Magnus in one fell swoop. His hands rise above the man in front of him, ready to smash down on Magnus. 

Gavin’s breathing falters, his left eye barely peeking open and catching sight of Nines. Magnus immediately turns around to find what Gavin is looking at, coming face to face with the android about to deliver a conquering blow. A thick arm comes up to block the movements, keeping Nines’ hands off his head. The drink splashes out of his glass and down his abdomen, pissing him off.

“I shoulda known Gina couldn’ handle you,” he spits, tossing the glass and its remains onto the bed behind Gavin’s flaccid body. Nines keeps his eyes on Magnus’ face, anxious to get between him and the detective. “What is all this?” he asks, gaining composure as he sobers himself and stands at full height. “Some buddy-buddy cop duo or somethin’?”

Nines desperately wants to flick his eyes down to Gavin, tell him things will be alright, but Magnus would do him worse if the android spoke. He steps forward boldly, covering most of the ground between them. Magnus eyeballs him with a squint before stepping back towards the left, now a game of cat and mouse as they dance around each other.

“I always knew there was somethin’ off about you,” Magnus throws out, determination setting on his face. “You here about Sofia? Or Amy? Or the other one, I can’t remember her name. It’s too bad, ya see. I dropped your partner’s little ear radio and crushed it, and I see you don’t have one in. Looks like you won’t be getting out of this that easy.” He scoffs in Nines’ direction as they circle around each other, each step closer to Gavin. “I’ll tell you now. Just between you ‘n me. I’m gonna do you worse than I ever did that robobitch. And he’s gonna sit there and watch.” Magnus points vaguely at Gavin’s body. “And then, I’m gonna keep him like that. Broken. Tied up. Like my little bitch. While you lay dead and gone, I’ll be usin’ him till I’m done, then he’ll join you.”

Nines’ fists clench by his sides as he stands in front of Gavin, protecting him from whatever Magnus is scheming. A low groan escapes from the detective’s lips, drawing Magnus’ focus.

“Nines.” Gavin’s voice is barely a whisper as he strains his lungs.

Magnus barks out a cheap laugh. “Nines, eh? What kinda fuckin’ name is that?”

The android calculates his every movement, preconstructing every step Magnus might take. His right hand slides down the cane, and Nines knows the next move instantly.

“It’s mine.”

Nines slides to the left, blocking the hit with his right forearm and sliding down the cane to twist it out of Magnus’ grip. But the man is strong and resists releasing the cane, instead following his move with an uppercut from his free left hand. Nines barely has time to duck, the fist grazing his left temple as he turns back. He kicks out his left leg, knocking the knee joint of Magnus’ left, causing him to fall forward on top of the android.

From above, he can hear Gavin’s hoarse voice cough out ‘ _Nines, no_ ’ as he maneuvers his hands down to Magnus’ sides to push him off. Magnus uses his weight to confine him down to the floor, bringing his grubby, fat hands up to Nines’ throat, ready to squeeze until death, but the android sees it coming. He plants his feet firmly down on the ground and forces his hips up, shaking Magnus from his hold and to the left. His huge body crashes into a glass cabinet beside the bed as Nines rolls away to the other side. Whatever was in the cabinet has shattered, and glass litters the floor as miniscule shards flood the room.

Nines quickly flips to stand, breathing heavy as he raises his fists in anticipation. Magnus sits up, pushing down on the cane as it struggles to pull his body weight from the floor. His face is scraped, small spurts of blood run down his cheeks and forehead, getting into his eyes and mouth. The android is expecting the man to wobble, take his time to stand and buy himself time. What he doesn’t expect is the large shard of glass mauled at his head. He quickly catches it with his right hand, protecting his face as Magnus uses the distraction to blitz him.

The man throws his weight at Nines, intended to shove him to the floor, but is stopped by the swipe of glass to his abdomen. Magnus punches two jabs in rapid succession, one to Nines’ stomach, the other at his face when he moves his hands lower to block. The android pushes him back with his left hand, holding Magnus off from landing another punch and slicing into his abdominal skin with the other. The pain cripples the man for only a second, adrenaline coursing through his body as he tries to take another swing.

His eyes land on the piece of glass used to cut him, realizing the blood on the shard holds streaks of blue against the red. Thirium mixes with the red as it drips off the edge and forms perfectly round drops on the floor. Rage consumes Magnus’ body when he grasps that he’s been tricked, the fire within his eyes incensing his whole figure as he forces back onto Nines with reinforced energy. Nines crosses his arms to block his actions, pushing back against Magnus until the man relents and turns back angrily.

“Not again! You plastic fucks think you can come in here and ruin everything I’ve built? I won’t let that happen!” Magnus screeches, but there is no one around to hear. He whips around to face the android, dropping his voice dangerously low and coercing thorns through every word he spits. “I am going to take you apart, piece by piece, and dispose of you in thirty different fucking states so no one will ever find your plastic ass.” He’s treading closer, in small measured steps, squinting his eyes as he shoots daggers into Nines’ skin. A wetness clings to Nines’ lips. The punch Magnus landed must’ve reopened the wound on his forehead.

Nines’ face contorts into an evil grin, spitting out the blood that slithering into his mouth. This pathetic man doesn’t know who he really is. Flecks of thirium dot Magnus’ skin, increasing the fury burning inside him. He sets his face and advances on the android, but Nines is quicker. He spreads his feet, the right back a bit, and bends his knees. Just before Magnus can land a hit, the android powerfully darts his right foot forward. The heel of his foot connects with Magnus’ sternum, resulting in a loud, splitting crack as the man is forced backwards. The air is gone from his lungs as he collides with the wall. A deafening crash rings out in the room as his head smashes into the fortification and his body slumps to the ground atop the glass.

Nines pauses, breathing heavy as he looks over at Magnus’ body. The crack to his skull might be life-threatening. The android catches his breath before turning to face Gavin, who has closed his eyes and looks unconscious. He steps forward to reach the detective but is cut off by the man charging him from the wall. Fuck. He underestimated him again.

Magnus has gathered all his remaining strength as he outstretches his hands, fingers drawn to grab at Nines’ neck. The android barely has time to turn his body to the left, grabbing Magnus’ wrists with his hands and popping his arms over Nines’ right shoulder. He yanks down hard, dislocating one of Magnus’ shoulders and snapping both elbows before he bends his knees and pushes up, popping the man’s body weight onto the android’s back. A cry decimates the room as Magnus is lifted into the air. Nines shows him no mercy; he launches Magnus over his right shoulder, flipping him to land hard on his back as he hits the floor.

The room is silent now, except for the short, jagged breaths from the android as he surveys the damage. Nines steps forward, placing two fingers to the carotid artery in Magnus’ neck. His pulse is slowing as he drifts into unconsciousness. He’ll live. The android rings the precinct and alerts them to the situation. He knows the fastest they’ll be here is half an hour.

Nines approaches the bed lightly, looking over Gavin’s injuries as he lays unmoving on the bed. He raises his hand to gently brush some of the detective’s hair off his forehead and out of the blood. Gavin’s body shakes as a cough racks through his body.

Surprise dons Nines’ face as he sits on the edge of the bed. “Hey,” he says softly.

“Hey,” Gavin chokes out, smiling weakly from beneath him.

Nines looks down at the detective’s body. “The DPD is on the way. Is it okay if I untie you?” he asks bashfully. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Gavin tries to nod but winces at the movement. “Please,” he whispers.

“Hey, hey. Just relax. I can take it from here. I got you, okay?” he doesn’t respond as the android removes his hand to lean over his body and analyze the rope configuration. Nines keeps his thigh in contact with the detective’s skin as he peels some of the rope out from itself. It’s a quiet, tender moment only filled with the sound of the cord knocking against the bed as it gets untangled.

Gavin’s hands are freed first, and he draws them onto himself once he is released. Relief is evident in his breaths as his lungs relax.

“There’s more than one rope here. Is it okay if I pause to bind Magnus in case he wakes?”

A ‘mhmm’ can be heard from the sheets where Gavin has planted his face. A content smile crawls onto Nines’ face before he leaves the bed. Magnus hasn’t moved, but he is still breathing. He kicks the man over onto his stomach, and ties the man’s hands and feet together, similar to Gavin’s bind but harsher, tighter, drawing the body into a crescent shape. He didn’t even need a second rope.

He returns to the bedside, dipping the mattress to give the detective warning that he is about to work on the other set. Nines makes quick work of the knot, tossing the cord into the middle of the bed as Gavin’s legs are freed.

“How do you feel?” he asks, concern bleeding into his voice as he moves to sit closer to Gavin’s face.

A small chuckle comes from the sheets. “Better now that that phcker isn’t beating the shit out of me.”

Nines closes his eyes and tilts his head up to the ceiling, guilt heavy on his shoulders. “Gavin, I am so sorry. I should’ve realized they were going to separate us, that Gina was trying to get us alone and off their trail, that Magnus was going to do this, I jus-”

“Hey,” Gavin lifts his head off the bed and turns to look at him. “It’s fine. We’re okay. We literally just survived whatever that was. Plus, if you had known, you wouldn’t be sitting on this bed shirtless, covered in blood and rescuing me.” Pink floods his cheeks as he speaks. “That _was_ pretty badass,” he adds before laying his head down, this time curled to face Nines.

The android looks down at himself. His blood mixes with Gina’s and now Magnus’ over his body. He didn’t even realize he left his shirt in Gina’s room. “I-” he starts, a laugh escaping his lips, “I didn’t even notice. Things got pretty wild after we got separated.”

A beat passes before a small chuckle emits from the pair. “Why don’t you,” Gavin drawls with a smile as he props himself up on his left elbow. He only winces a bit before his right hand comes up to cup Nines’ face, his thumb swiping at the liquid on his cheekbone. “Tell me where all this blood came from?” 

He could eat up the look on Gavin’s face all day. His skin is flushed, pupils dilated as he looks up at the android. Something soft, vulnerable, unknown, lies behind his eyes. The moment is heavy, heated as neither of them speak. Nines breath hitches, and a tiny smirk forms on Gavin’s lips. The android’s eyes find their way down to his mouth, memorizing the shape. When he looks back into Gavin’s eyes, they meet. Time freezes as they search each other. He leans forward a miniscule amount, and when the detective’s heartrate increases and he doesn’t pull away, Nines leans forward just a bit more.

Sirens blare throughout the room, startling the pair and ruining whatever moment they were having. The DPD must be here already, judging by the red and blue reflections in the windows. He didn’t even realize this room has the best view out to the night sky. Nines huffs out a laugh as he shakes his head. Just their luck. He turns his head back to Gavin, who is watching him with a cocked head and a warm smile.

Later, then. Nines returns the smile and stands slowly from the bed. “Let’s get you out of here, yeah?”

Gavin’s smile broadens in adoration as he nods his head. He wishes he could have the detective look at him like that all the time. Blue rushes to his cheeks as he fully stands and busies himself looking for clothes to cover Gavin. This room is the most elaborate of the back rooms, and the walk-in closet is full of large coats Magnus probably stored here. Nines grabs the most discreet black coat and is hasty to wrap Gavin’s body. 

Certain that no one would see what’s underneath, he picks up the cocoon bridal style and heads for the elevator. Gavin curls his face into Nines’ chest, a small smile on his lips as he drifts off to sleep. If Nines kicks Magnus in the head a little harder than he meant to, he’s the only one who will ever know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh to kick my enemy in the head as a carry away my lover...what a life. Hey babe, wanna do this? Hmu.
> 
> Love to see what you guys think of this one ;)


	18. As You Were Saying?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recovery can be a bitch, but Gavin has plenty to keep him sane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are those 3 + 1 things? Yeah, here's my contribution. I did say slow burn.
> 
> Anyway, see you on the other side! :)

A human would probably have an aching back from the position he has been sitting stoically in all day, but his attention won’t be distracted. It’s warm here, quiet, the sweet, low hum of the vital signs monitor the only beeping that braces the midday silence. The bustle has quieted down, leaving Nines’ mind to wander as he sits. The smell is clean, too clean, as he observes the room in front of him.

The printed coffee cup he brought stares at him from the small side table on his left, steam softly pillowing out of the slit of an opening on the lid. The uncomfortable, standard chair in which he resides faces the large, sterile white bed where the detective slightly stirs. A small groan escapes the man laying on the mattress, eyes scrunched as his breaths pick up.

“Phck,” Gavin grunts, his throat dry and voice raspy. His eyes finally peel open, blinking and squinting in the bright light of the hospital room. There isn’t much to see, the blinds to the window that faces the hall are closed, small table beneath it covered in varying objects too far away to make out, a lone chair near the door and extensive medical equipment he doesn’t bother to analyze. The detective finally catches his bearings and eyes Nines beside him. “Hey niner-niner,” he says delicately, though his throat catches parts of the words, a small smile etching itself onto his face.

“Gavin,” Nines’ face splits into a relieved smile as he relaxes his body.

He squints around the room ineptly. “Times’it?”

The android has a sheepish expression when he responds, his left hand reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck. “It’s 11:21AM, Wednesday, March 2nd.”

Confusion rises on Gavin’s face before the panic sets in. “Wednesday? March? Phck, how long have I been out?”

“Roughly three days,” Nines replies, even though it’s been 2 days, 9 hours, 12 minutes and 32 seconds. Not that he’s been counting. He clenches his jaw, bracing himself for an outburst that never comes.

Gavin closes his eyes and leans back against the pillows piled behind him. “Phck, what about work? There’s going to be so much hell to pay. Phck, and Dipshit! Oh my god, what if she-”

“Hey,” Nines calls softly, gently cutting Gavin’s panic off and squeezing his hand. “She’s okay. Really. I’ve been to feed her and love on her twice a day since we left. She misses you though,” he adds with a reassuring smile.

The detective visibly relaxes, letting his shoulders slump slightly as he rests back. His relief is short-lived, however, when he realizes they’ve been holding hands. His eyes dart between their hands and back up to Nines’ face, a deep blush crawling its way up Gavin’s neck and cheeks as Nines feels his palm start to sweat. Shaking his head as if he knew this was coming, the android reaches his open left hand to the side table and brings the coffee cup up to the bed, resting his elbow on the side to hold it out to Gavin. He uses his left arm, still beaten and bruised, now bandaged and connected to various tubes, to take the colorful cup from the android and takes a golden sip.

“Oh my god,” he moans around his first mouthful. “Phck.”

“Good?” the android asks redundantly. The detective gives him an eager nod as he swallows down more of the sugary caffeine. Nines’ cheeks dust a light blue as he chuckles. “I thought you would probably want something other than that hospital water when you woke up.”

“Yeah, phckin’ hate that shit. You know me so well,” Gavin winks as he knocks back another solid swig. He swallows deftly then pulls the cup back to admire the print. “Where’d you get this? What’s with the bears?”

“You-” Nines cocks his head to the side as he takes in Gavin’s question and watches him take another sip. “Well I know you can be _unbearable_ without coffee, but you told me the first day we met you could always go for a bear, Detective.”

Gavin’s breath hitches. Coffee bursts out of his mouth, sprinkling the sheets in front of him as he belts out the purest laugh Nines has ever heard. Laughter racks his body as he wipes at his face with his left forearm, tears forming around his eyes and streaming down his cheeks. Nines sits in a stunned, but amused silence as he watches the detective clutch at his ribs in pain as he tries to quell the laughter. “That,” he forces out between a laugh, “is not what I meant.”

Nines face pales as he leans forward, mouth open with embarrassment soon taking the place of shock. His cheeks turn a bright blue as he weighs his mistake, but Gavin just chuckles with a grin plastered across his face. “I didn’t-” he stutters, “I must’ve-”

“It’s-” Gavin shakes his head. “You know what? Nevermind. Thank you. For the coffee,” he adds, swiping his thumb against the back of Nines’ hand as he too tilts his head in admiration.

There’s a beat of silence as they stare at each other. Nines takes a deep breath. Fuck it. Now or never. He stands and moves to sit on the bed next to the detective, his back against Gavin’s leg as he turns to the right. Nines moves their hands from the sheets to his lap while he runs his thumb across Gavin’s knuckles. He looks down at them before looking up into the detective’s face, who is searching the android’s eyes for something Nines can’t place.

“You scared the shit out of me for a while there,” he starts, huffing a laugh as a smile toys at his words. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.” He leaves the rest of the sentence out, not needed to voice his fears to the room. They both know what he was thinking.

Gavin smirks, digging his back more into the pillows more as he replies. “Yeah, well. You know me. Tough as phck.” He shoots Nines a wink as his expression returns to a soft, satiated smile.

Nines huffs out another snort, shaking his head without heat. “Yeah, well. I’m not sure anyone could have handled Magnus as well as you did. You did good,” he lauds tenderly, eyes roaming Gavin’s face. The android leans forward, gently pushing some of the hair on Gavin’s forehead out of his eyes and the laceration on his eyebrow, fingertips brushing down the side of his jaw before resting at his chin. He tilts the detective’s chin up slowly, watching as Gavin’s pupils dilate and fill with want, desire. Lust.

“I think I like it better in,” Gavin interjects, teasing coyly as nods his head against Nines’ hand to indicate the light at his temple. The LED is spinning a velvety, melodious blue that cycles in time with his smooth laugh.

“Yeah?” Nines asks as he leans forward. “I think I do too.” His breath ghosts Gavin’s mouth, and the android’s eyes dart down to his lips before they recapture his heated gaze. His head dips slightly, giving Nines the permission he’s asking for when the door clatters open behind them, slamming against the wall as a short, plump woman makes her loud entry.

Nines clambers down to the seat behind the bed as Gavin hides the coffee cup behind his hip, embarrassment donning both of their expressions as the woman in question continues her conversation. 

“-thing in order,” she eyes them suspiciously with a pause when she finally glances up from the busy clipboard she’s holding against her hip. She rolls her eyes. “Okay, uh, anyway, the doctor said we’re to keep you one more night to make sure there is no more internal bleeding and keep you stable, verify your injuries are not life-threatening. Any questions?” 

The pause is short-lived before she plows on. “Good. Any questions, you ask the doctor. You should be fine, Mr. Reed. Have a good afternoon.” She cuts them a curt nod before bowing out of the room with just as much noise as she entered.

Stunned silence fills the room in her wake, the only noise from the monitor picking up the increase in Gavin’s heartrate. Nines blinks resolutely, finally turning to face the detective with a laugh on his face as they make eye contact.

“Uh, well. No idea why she needed to do all that. Bit dramatic if you ask me. She did do a great job interrupting, if that was her intention,” Gavin says, wiping his bruised left hand at the back of his neck, pain scrunching at his face as he stretches his broken ribs. The red hasn’t left his face, nor the cheeky grin he’s been holding since he woke.

“I- Sorry,” Nines replies guiltily as he casts his look down away from the detective’s face. “I called the nurse when I realized you were waking. I didn’t realize she was going to burst in and do…whatever that was.” He laughs embarrassedly, biting his lip shyly when he brings his eyes back up to meet Gavin’s.

“I mean, okay, that makes sense. Obviously they needed to know I didn’t die. Not yet at least. But forget that,” he cuts off his derailing thoughts with a shake of his head, “As you were saying?” the detective leans over with a wink, a mischievous expression fighting the wince of pain from his face as he moves.

Nines stands, gently pushing Gavin back against the pillows. “Hey. Hey. Don’t hurt yourself any further,” he says with a stern eyebrow but a half-smile biting his cheek. “We don’t need any of that. We’ve got all the time in the world.”

His last words strike Gavin, giving him a reassuring squeeze as Nines twists to sit back on the speckled-with-coffee white sheets of the hospital mattress. As if on cue, the door flings open once again, cracking loudly as it hits the wall and a large mass breaches the room. Nines swiftly turns back to sit in the chair, shaking his head as he takes in the intruder.

More like intruder _s_. Gavin clasps Nines’ hand a little harder, a small squeeze to confirm they are thinking the same _oh-my-god-again?_ right now. Chris’ voice echoes in the small room as he looks to the ceiling where one of the many balloons in his hand is bouncing dangerously against the light.

“Fuckin- god, fuck. There.” Chris sighs good-naturedly before looking back down at the pair, a grin breaking open his face. “Hey! Gav, Nines, what’s good?” They don’t have time to reply before Captain Fowler makes his entry with a comically large coffee cup and several stacks of colored paper.

In a whirlwind, the captain places the pages on the opposing side table and balances the coffee mug on top. Chris busies himself with tying the balloon strings to the leg of a table near the door where several vases reside. Gavin blinks around aimlessly as everyone hurriedly does whatever they came to do. Finally, both the captain and his coworker come to a pause and stand at the side of the bed closest to the door, facing both Gavin and Nines.

“Okay, these are for you. Get well cards or hate mail, we’ll never know.” He points to the stack of papers he’s placed next to the bed. “Anyway, congratulations you two,” Fowler starts, teeth shining in the bright light as he grins, “on what is probably one of the largest and weirdest busts the DPD has ever had the pleasure of cleaning up.”

A small half-gasp, half-laugh escapes Gavin’s lips as the other three share a chuckle. “Wait, what the phck happened? Jesus, feel like I’ve missed everything.”

“It’s ‘cause you have,” Chris adds with a coy grin before looking back to the captain to finish.

“Oh. Guess Nines didn’t have time to tell ya before he let us know you were stirrin’. Magnus was a walkin’, talkin’ bomb. That guy was wild, fuckin’ asshole. Ya’ll did the hard part for us, Nines already had his confession tape prepared when we nabbed ‘im. Gina too, whatever her deal is,” Fowler comments to the party before turning to the android. “Oh, Nines, while I was back at the precinct, she tried to tell me you slipped her somethin’ and Magnus had her under his control or some shit. Hilarious, really. Guess she forgot we can see anything you saw.”

Gavin’s face pales and Nines can feel his heartrate increase, but the captain and Chris are oblivious. Yeah. That does mean everything. He sends a quick squeeze to the detective’s hand to comfort him. Just enough to let him know everything is fine. 

“Did she also forget I analyzed the drink the second she gave it to me?” Nines rolls his eyes. “Sorry doll, that one won’t play out in court.” He earns a chuckle from the captain and a hearty laugh from Chris. “Oh, and her damn foreign car. The rug fiber matched the one at the victim’s place. Guess she didn’t realize she was sleeping with the enemy then too.”

Nines turns to face Gavin, shaking his head with a smile before he meets the detective’s eyes. He’s laying against the bed, skin lit beautifully from the light of the room, red dusting his cheeks as he looks over the android in amazement and admiration. Fowler clears his throat, disrupting the intense moment between the pair. Chris, for his part, is pretending to look at the items on the table by the door pointedly ignoring whatever is going on.

Fowler draws in a dramatic breath, gathering everyone’s attention. “Well,” he drags, cocking an eyebrow at the man on the bed. “You’re lucky you got an android for a partner. Already filed the paperwork for this whole schematic while you were laying on bed dreaming about coffee and donuts.” Gavin snorts and swipes his thumb across the back of Nines’ hand as Fowler continues. “Now I don’t care what the fuck you dream of for the rest of the week, but take this one off to recover and get your shit together.”

“Hey, wait. But-”

“Nope.” The captain cuts him off from a probably lengthy tirade about being suitable enough for work. “I don’t give a shit. Rest up, heal that godforsaken rib cage, and be back at my office on Monday. Think it’s time we talked about that promo you been practically beggin’ me for.” Fowler gives him a soft half-smile and a nod. Gavin looks starstruck, surprise written in his expression as the captain pats him on the knee. “Alright. Good. Stay home. I better not see your ass till Monday. And Nines,” he turns to look the android in the face, pointing a finger in his direction. “Keep this one in line, yeah?”

Nines nods, a grin taking over his mouth. “Of course, Captain.”

Fowler gives him a nod before patting Gavin’s leg once more and retreating. “I’ll let you do whatever party thing Chris is gonna do. See you Monday, son,” he trails off, head already out into the hall.

Chris returns his gaze to the pair after the door closes behind Captain Fowler. “Yeah, okay. So I have no idea what he was talking about. I just stopped in to check on ya before the pop swarms in.” He shakes his head with a sigh. “I have no idea who everything is from. People just started handing me shit so uh, good luck with that.” An awkward laugh forces its way out of his lungs.

“Dude, Chris. It’s cool. I’ll go through it later. Really, not a big deal.”

“Okay, cool. Just, yeah.” Silence fills the room as the three of them stare at each other, patiently waiting for Chris to say whatever he has to say. He clicks his tongue as he looks between them. “Okay. Anyway. Glad to see you are doing better. You still look like shit, but at least you can talk this time. Not much better than the usual you though,” he rolls his eyes as the three share a laugh. He points to the door. “I gotta get home though. Probably left the baby for too long and the wife is gonna have my neck. But seriously, rest up. Don’t need to see Fowler bust your ass worse than this fucker did. Uh. Yeah, I think that’s everything. Alright, see ya later.” Chris shoots a pair of finger guns in their direction before backing up and leaving the same way as the captain.

The detective and android stare at the back of the door as their coworker departs, silently daring another person to burst through to intrude once again. Once it appears that they are to be left alone, for good this time, relief floods Nines’ system.

“That was...."Gavin starts.

"Intersting," Nines finishes. The pair share a small smile.

"Hah, yeah. Uh. So,” the detective says, turning his head to finally face Nines after their many disruptions. A cheeky smile works its way to his mouth and a spark lights behind his eyes. “You were saying?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did post that meme "I am going to make a chapter so self-indulgent..." so. You know. It had to be done. Stay tuned for more of our fave buudy-buddy cop duo or something.
> 
> Can't wait to hear what you think!


	19. And So Do We

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost ready to go home - what could be standing in the way of cutting through this sexual tension?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I've ever posted something the same day I wrote it. Well. Tada. I like the vibe in this one, and I am so ready for the next and final chapter.
> 
> See you on the other side :)

She’s sheepish as she enters the room, slowly turning the handle to avoid making noise. The bag in one hand ruffles loudly as it slaps against the door despite her efforts. Both Gavin and Nines are facing her as Tina braces the hospital room, an embarrassed smile on her face and hands full. 

“Uh, hi?” She says, an awkward laugh on her lips as she glances between the pair, obviously interrupting _something_. 

Gavin rolls his eyes and Nines’ face splits into a grin. “T, get your ass in here.”

Tina releases a sigh of relief, opening the door all the way and barging in with her plastic bags and occupied hand. Well. One hand contains what appears to be Gavin’s favorite take out, and the other appears to be dragging another person’s arm. Gavin’s expression turns from relaxed to good-natured inquisition. 

“Oh my god, let me just address the elephant in the room. Apparently, fuck that I brought you your fuckin’ _favorite takeout_ , you’re just pressed about my girlfriend.”

Gavin’s face changes to a wide-ass grin and a laugh prefaces his response. “I’m out for three days and you already replaced me? Phck you too, damn.” He turns to the woman holding Tina’s hand. “Anyway, good to see you Jackie. Sorry you got tied down to the crazy one.”

Jackie looks bewildered at his address. “You’re not confused? Tina said you would probably freak out if we came in together right after you woke up.”

“I did say she was the crazy one.” He turns to Tina. “What, did you think I didn’t notice or some shit? You are the most obvious person I’ve ever met. You ain’t sly with all those _extra hours_ and _long ass talks with the front desk_ boo. Who did you think you were fooling?” He gets a chuckle from the room, albeit an embarrassed one from Tina. 

Nines turns to face him. “Really? We all thought you were totally oblivious.”

“Woooowwww, so I look stupid to you, great,” Gavin rolls his eyes as Nines stutters a faint rebuttal. “Thanks T, making me look bad.”

“Will you shut up and eat your damn food? Jackie and I didn’t go out of our way to bring you this so you could berate me.”

Gavin releases Nines’ hand and makes a grabbing gesture in the bag’s direction. “Gimme that shit. How am I supposed to eat it if you hog it? I am but a poor soul confined to this hospital bed, on death row…”

Jackie laughs as Tina takes chopsticks out of the top of the bag and lobs them at the detective’s head. “Fuck you.”

The first few bites of Gavin’s dinner (First meal? Linner?) are met with small talk between Nines and the guests, pointedly brought to an end by the clearing of Gavin’s throat. The three of them turn to catch his gaze, a raised eyebrow arched on Tina’s forehead.

“So, when did this all happen then?” his eyes motion between T and Jackie while he picks up another bite.

“What are you, British all of the sudden?” Tina jokes and casts a glance to Nines, a questioning look on her face before she turns back to the man on the bed. “He didn’t tell you? We had a bet to see who would ask who first. Looks like I won.” She sends a wink Nines’ way as he shakes his head with a smile. Gavin, for his part, manages to choke on the food he’s just placed in his mouth. His cough is met with a concerned look from Jackie but a jovial laugh from Tina. Gavin turns his attention to Nines, who has become a deepened blue, LED cycling a constant yellow as he rubs the back of his neck and tries to come up with something to say.

“Oh god, before you two get into your first little domestic, please for the love of god tell me what went down on Sunday.” Gavin tilts his head as he turns his attention to Tina who continues, “Nines wouldn’t tell me anything while you were unconscious. Said it would ruin the sanctity or whatever.”

Nines squints his eyes at Tina. “That is _not_ what I said. I said it would make more sense to tell you once he woke up so I wouldn’t have to repeat it eight thousand times. Plus, I know damn well you looked at the reports when you went home Monday night.”

Jackie bristles and her cheeks flush when she realizes they’ve been caught. 

“Don’t worry about that, you’re fine. I had to access Gavin’s grindr profile to make it through this case anyway, so I think-“

“Hey!”

“-we’ve all done our fair share of illicit activities over the course of this past week.”

Tina’s face breaks into a mischievous grin. “Wait, you had to get his Grindr profile? Did you see that shit about his cat being the only kinda-”

“T, I swear to god if you finish that statement…” Gavin interjects once again.

Nines wears a bemused smile as he glances between the three of them. “Yes, I did see all of the embarrassing things he had on his profile as well as the messages.”

Gavin smacks his head back against the hospital bed three times as he practically chants, “Can we _please_ forget this, oh my god. That was forever ago!” The four of them share a laugh before a comfortable silence falls upon them. Gavin turns to find Nines’ eyes, holding a knowing gaze, fonder than before, interrupted by Tina’s exasperated sigh.

“Okay, so...? Oh my god. We didn’t come her to watch you two eye-fuck. What happened on Sunday?”

Nines grins as he turns his face from the detective to the pair. “Hmm, okay, the basic stuff is that we went to Magnus’ place, we saw some crazy shit, then we got separated-”

“Okay, he means like this whole mans was hanging from the ceiling, dick out and everything, just greeting you as soon as you walked in.” Jackie makes a disgusted face while Tina laughs so hard, she almost spits.

“Wait, the fuck? Hanging from the ceiling?”

Nines fills the confusion. “It was Davey, a man we met on Saturday, that I thought perhaps had involvement in the murder. Turns out he didn’t, he was just some kinky guy. After-”

“Wait,” Gavin pauses, “How did you know it was him? He was wearing a mask and I don’t remember seeing him on the way out.”

Nines rolls his eyes as Tina and Jackie chuckle, eyes passing between the two like a tennis match. “You didn’t see anything on the way out because you passed out before I even got to the elevator,” he gives a knowing look to the detective. “And, _unfortunately_ , I was able to identify Davey by his anatomy. Well. The portion we could see from the floor.”

A grimace covers everyone’s face as they realize the implications of his statement. “Okay, I’ll say it. Ew. Move on please. You got separated, right?”

“Yes, right,” Nines picks up, turning his attention back to Jackie and Tina. “I don’t know much about what happened on Gavin’s side, but Magnus’ partner-in-crime as he called her, Gina, tried to drug me with Rohypnol. It was a set up from the beginning. She and Magnus were going to separate us and get me out of the way to get the detective alone. I don’t know how they knew, but they knew. I managed to get her into a room and subdue her before finding Magnus.”

“Wait, subdue her? You got her into a room? The phck happened there?” Gavin asks, his face flushing. Nines thinks it suits him.

“I pretended to be under the influence of the drugs and took her up on her offer to get a room, then I proceeded to undergo combat eventually subduing her. She was quicker than I thought, though, and got a good hit on my head. The blood you saw on my torso was hers I incurred through the fight.”

“Damn Nines! Go off! That’s pretty fuckin’ badass,” Tina laughs as she lets go of Jackie’s hand to wrap her arm around her waist.

“Yeah, yeah _badass_ , okay, but I think you left out the part that you were shirtless when you got to me,” Gavin points out a stern expression on his face. Jealousy looks cute on him.

Nines rolls his eyes as Tina mutters an _oh-my-god-here-we-go_. “I had to catch her off guard. It was part of the act before she tried to strangle me.”

“Oh, so she was on top of you? What, were you dicking her down before you came to get me?”

Nines sends an exasperated look in Tina’s direction. Jackie is looking away, pretending to admire the balloons and cards on the table. Both are unhelpful as fuck.

“You’re extrapolating. I just had to subdue her to get to you. Besides, there’s someone else I’d much rather be dicking down.” Nines returns his heated gaze to Gavin, who appears to have shrunk into the mattress as his pupils dilate. 

“God, you guys are so gross,” Tina tosses out, waving a hand in a distracted manner. “So you subdue her, get to Magnus, fuck him up, and dip?”

“Basically,” Nines says from the chair, facing her once more. “He put up a pretty good fight, but he couldn't outsmart the latest Cyberlife tech. The cane that he had, the murder weapon, there was a hexagon cut through the center to make it look like a tire iron, like his company.” He turns to look at Gavin, his expression softening. “I’m sorry, I should have realized it had the hexagon shape, that it was the murder weapon, I should’ve never left you alone with him, I should’ve known-”

“Hey.” Gavin’s voice breaks through his ample apologies. “I didn’t realize either. No one did. It’s okay. We got him in the end.”

Nines gives him a small nod, a soft half smile on his face as Gavin reaches to take his hand once more.

Tina rolls her eyes, pulling Jackie close before she reaches into the purse on her shoulder. Nines didn’t even see that bag when she came in, her dainty body carrying so much shit. “Anyway,” she interrupts, “I was told this was for you.” She pulls a plastic grocery bag with a familiar black and white clothing article inside.

“Oh my god,” Gavin dramatically claims, dying inside. “You are so embarrassing. It was a BDSM club, of course I had to wear something revealing.”

Tina raises an eyebrow as Jackie and Nines chuckle. “Oh, I know. I just didn’t see cat ears on the list of requirements.” Gavin snags the bag from her hand, a fake glare shot in her direction.

“You needn’t be embarrassed Detective,” Nines chimes in, pausing to gather Gavin’s attention. “There’s something much more revealing at home for you.”

The two guests burst into laughter as Gavin flushes a deep red.

“Oh my god,” the detective groans as he leans back to look up at the ceiling, though the smile on the corners of his mouth give away his true feelings.

“Okay, well.” Tina addresses the room, grabbing Jackie’s hand once more. “Looks like you two need to get a room. And so do we, so we’re gonna dip.” She winks in Nines’ direction. “Have fun you lovebirds. See you Saturday like always. Oh, this time it can be a double date! Wow, that is going to be so fun, I can’t wait to-” Tina’s voice fades away as the pair leave down the hallway out of earshot.

Finally, the room goes back to its quiet hum of machinery and dimmed lighting as the sun sets. Gavin is the first to break the silence, an uneasy cough escaping. “God, what a nightmare. I am so phckin’ tired. Please tell me there’s no more secrets about to be revealed.” Nines’ expression does little to calm his fears. He sighs. “Phck it. Out with it.”

Nines grimaces as he closes his eyes. “I may have completely deviated before I started fighting Gina…?” he says tentatively.

His statement is met with complete silence. The android opens one eye to find Gavin’s expression, confused to find no hostility. He opens both eyes blinking to confirm the sight in front of him.

“So wait, you’re like, 100% deviated? Like for real?”

Nines nods. “Yes. I…I needed to get to you, but the mission was to get as much information as I could from Gina. You were, _are_ , more important than the mission’ll ever be. I broke through it to find you.” Gavin hums his approval, swiping his thumb contentedly across the back of Nines’ hand. The silence between them is softer, more personal than it’s ever been. “I-” he clears his throat, “I went to see Amanda while I was here. You weren’t going to wake up soon, so I thought I should face her.”

Gavin squeezes his hand reassuringly, confirming it’s okay for him to continue. He almost spits out a chuckle, relief flooding his body. “She was gone, for good this time. Everything is back to normal, but peaceful now. Happier,” he lowers his voice. “I think it’s going to be okay.” He turns his soft watery smile to Gavin, who returns his gaze with something knowing behind his eyes. 

“I know it will be,” is barely above a whisper as Gavin closes his eyes, body leaned back as the weight of the past few hours grabs ahold of him. Nines sends him a last reassuring squeeze before the detective falls into a, finally, restful sleep.

********************************

Nines is alerted to the rhythmic change of Gavin’s sleep pattern, waking him from stasis. He’s only got a few minutes before the detective is fully conscious. It doesn’t take long for the delivery driver to reach the hospital, and Nines makes it back to the room seconds before he wakes. 

“Hey sleepy head,” Nines teases as he sets the coffee down on the table next to the bed.

A grunt is his reply, a squinting Gavin lifting an arm to block the sunlight where it streams into the sterile, blocky room. Eventually the detective flops his arm back to the bed, leaning his head back against the pillows to look at the ceiling.

“How are you feeling?” the android asks, concern now bleeding into his voice.

“’M’okay,” Gavin forces out, voice hoarse from disuse. “Body aches like shit.”

Nines hums as Gavin reaches to his left forearm, attempting to rip out the intravenous line. “Hey,” he calls, breaking the detective’s concentration and holding out the coffee. “Have this instead. Let me do that.” Gavin shoots him an empty-threat glare, but decides to take the coffee.

“No bears this time?” He asks before his first sip, shortly followed by a gulp and a moan as the liquid caffeine hits his system. Nines is busy inspecting the needle in his arm when he responds distractedly.

“You told me yesterday it wasn’t about the bears.”

“Okay, well, yes, I was just- Phck! Ow, you phck.” Gavin tears his eyes from the cup to the android holding the line and the adhesive tape now clutching many of the detective’s arm hairs. 

“Aww, upset I had to distract you to get this off?” Nines teases, tilting his head with a glint behind his eyes.

Gavin sighs dramatically, a smile forming at his lips. “Well, phck you. That wasn’t what I was hoping you would get off.”

“Oh,” Nines hums as he takes the tape into his mouth, ripping it off the IV and folding it before placing the line over the machine and discarding the ball. “Do tell. What is it you were hoping I would get off?”

[ **Gavin Reed: Aroused** ]

He didn’t need his sensors to tell him that, since the heartrate monitor detects an increase and his pupils dilate.

“I-”

“Mr. Reed.”

Both Gavin and Nines’ attention are drawn to the man who has just entered the room, unbeknownst to their conversation. If Gavin wasn’t flush then, his cheeks are definitely red now. 

“Nines, good to see you again. Mr. Reed, I’m Dr. Wilson, your presiding doctor during your stay here. I came to check on your vitals, see to it that everything is in order before releasing you. How are you feeling?”

Gavin stutters as he looks between Nines and the doctor. “Uh, just peachy.”

“Great, glad to hear it. Well, according to your records this morning I think you are good to go, just keep off your feet for the next couple of days, and let your ribcage heal before going back to active duty. I’ve heard that Nines here will be making sure of that.” The android sends the doctor a quick nod as Gavin glances between the two of them. “Okay, great. Well, then I am going to go ahead and discharge you, I can have one of the nurses come back with the discharge papers-”

“I can actually collect them electronically to avoid the hassle,” Nines says politely, once again offering a nod to the doctor.

“Well then that’s settled! Glad to see you are feeling better Mr. Reed, you guys take care now.”

The pair sit in silence as the door closes behind the doctor and they are left to gather their things. “Wow,” Gavin starts, a sarcastic tone bouncing off the walls, “Anyone else want to come in and interrupt before we leave? Now’s your last chance.”

Nines rolls his eyes. “Hey, that doctor helped save your life. He interrupted your _death_ more like.”

“Blah, blah, he was just doing his job, I don’t want to be interrupted from the same conversation _again_.” Gavin mutters as he tosses back the sheets on the bed, revealing the bandages across his torso and brace on his knee. “Man, phck,” he sighs as he assesses the damage.

Nines senses the detective’s dismay setting in. “Why don’t we,” he offers quietly, using a hand to draw Gavin’s chin up to face him, “avoid any more interruptions by getting out of here?”

He nods eagerly against Nines’ palm, pupils blown as he scrambles to get out of the bed. “Phck this place. Let’s go.” The android lets out a laugh as he watches the man stumble and get his bearings, reaching out to steady him. He can make the trip to get the rest of Gavin’s stuff later. In one fell swoop, he lifts Gavin off his feet bridal style, just like a few days before. Gavin rests his head into Nines’ clavicle as they brace the hallway beyond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait for them to _get-a-room_. Lo and behold there's one chapter left - stay tuned for everything you've been waiting for ;)
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	20. Make Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've been avoiding it this whole time - how long can these two avoid the building sexual tension?
> 
> Absolutely NSFW

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is lovelies - the final chapter of my first fic. I've put my heart and soul into this fic, and I hope it shows that. Thank you @ marndraws on tumblr who has the lovely art that inspired my fic in the first place, and has since created masterpieces of this fic. Please take a look at their work, and enjoy the last installment of this long journey of our two favourite assholes!
> 
> See you on the other side! :)

Dipshit is purring lightly on his lap as Nines looks in the vague direction of the television. It’s playing something he doesn’t care to pay attention to, not as the sound of the shower turning off braces the red-LED lit apartment. The detective had insisted on washing away the grime of the hospital as soon as they had returned, leaving Nines staring at the white bathroom door between them. It’s been twenty-three minutes and forty-one seconds since the shower started – not that he’s counting – and it finally seems like the detective is going to face him after all of the unspoken things that have happened in the last week. Shit. It’s only been a week, hasn’t it?

Nines’ thoughts are interrupted as the bathroom door finally opens and the steam billows into the living room. The android’s eyes travel from the TV to the towel hanging lowly on Gavin’s hips, the bruises on his abdomen from the events of the weekend, the water clinging to his chest, and come to a halt at the collar tight against his neck. Nines breathing system must be malfunctioning, because it doesn’t appear that he remembers how to breathe at all before he moves his gaze up to meet Gavin’s own, fixed with a smirk as he looks to the light on his temple. He turns on his tail, making quick progress to his room but pointedly leaving the door ajar between them.

Nines blinks in his wake, attempting to process what he just saw. Was that…an invitation? He looks down at Dipshit’s small form and decides that they’ve been skirting around whatever is going on between them for long enough. “Sorry,” he mutters to her as he slinks a hand under her body and moves her to the adjacent seat on the sofa. “I have to take care of something,” he smiles through his whispered words before heading for the detective’s door.

He was right, at least, that this was a silent invitation. He enters the sunlit room silently, eyes scanning the room before they land on Gavin at the closet. Nines closes the door quietly, pressing his back to the frame as he takes in the detective’s movements. He’s pretending to be searching for something to wear, tossing the same shirts back and forth on the rack before he pulls a black tee shirt and holds it up away from his body. Nines steps forward slowly, deliberately, as he waits for Gavin to say whatever ~~dumbass thing~~ he has planned.

“Hmm,” the detective hums, admiring the shirt a second longer. “What do you think?” Gavin asks coyly as he turns to face the android, now holding the shirt up to his body.

Out of all the things you could say right now… Nines shakes those thoughts away, instead reaching for the hanger in Gavin’s hand. The detective easily releases it, eyes wide in anticipation. “I think,” Nines starts, as he peels each side of the shirt off the hanger, “that this would look better on the floor.” He doesn’t need his sensors to tell him that Gavin’s pulse has just increased as he tosses the shirt to the floor in a ball, stepping over it to replace the hanger in the closet.

“Hey, I was gonna-” Gavin’s words are swiftly cut off by the hand that resides roughly around his throat.

Nines’ words ghost over Gavin’s face as he leans in. “Did you already forget you disobeyed me this weekend?” The detective shakes his head slightly, eyes dilating as they dart between the android’s own and his mouth. “Good,” he states, before adjusting his hand to grip Gavin’s chin, his thumb pressing against the detective’s lips. He presses himself against the detective, backing him up to hit the closet frame. Gavin’s breath hitches, and he makes for the android’s pants.

Confusion draws on his face when he realizes Nines has since changed back into his work attire, and a belt is the first obstacle between them. The android is quick to snag his hands from his waistline, instead giving a heated stare and an authoritative nod in the direction of the bed. Gavin seems to get the hint, because he practically jumps onto the bed, the towel now long forgotten on the floor behind him.

Gavin props himself up on his elbows, eyes raking Nines’ figure as he approaches the bed leisurely, taking his time to strip the turtleneck from his torso and over his head before tossing it to the floor. The detective is watching him hungrily as he works off his belt and strips down to his black boxers, arousal apparent. 

“Oh, no, take your time,” Gavin jibes, a smirk on his face, “Go ahead and keep avoiding all the _sexual tension_ between us, that’s fine.” He finishes with a cheeky grin, the lust obvious in his eyes as he anticipates Nines’ next move.

“God,” the android huffs out as he climbs onto the bed, settling over Gavin’s legs. “You just don’t know how to shut the fuck up, do you?” He turns his attention to the bruises on the detective’s torso, planting small delicate kisses along each one as Gavin’s body stills. 

Nines looks up, catching a heated gaze from the man beneath him. Gavin’s eyes are focused on the android’s lips as he whispers, “Make me.”

Nines launches forward, crashing their mouth against each other, teeth clashing as a hand tugs on the android’s hair, desperation bleeding from one mouth to the other. Gavin’s other hand trails down to Nines’ boxers, tongue swiping the inside of the android’s mouth as he makes for the elastic waistband. His movements are halted by Nines’ hand as he snags Gavin’s wrist, pulling apart their mouths to breath heavily against the other. Nines catches the detective’s needy expression, bringing a smirk to his face as he pushes the hand down into the mattress and licks a stripe across Gavin’s lower lip. His breath hitches below as Nines moves his hands to either side of the detective’s head, running his tongue down the sharp jawline and mouthing at his neck, lightly grazing the skin as he bites at Gavin’s ear.

He’s growing impatient beneath Nines, groaning, bucking his hips slightly to get any sort of friction but is kept just out of reach. His pulse spikes as the android continues down Gavin’s neck to the collar, kissing the skin just above and tugging the pendant between his teeth. Slowly, Nines drags his tongue to the detective’s pecs, teasing back and forth across his pert nipple as a hand pinches lightly at the other. Gavin throws his head back against the pillows, lust heavy in his groans and muttered ‘ _phck_ ’s that fill the room.

“If you don’t…” 

“If I don’t what?” Nines pulls off, breath ghosting over Gavin’s pecs as he smirks down at the man below him.

“Hurry the phck up, don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time?” Gavin asks desperately, his breath hitching as Nines climbs lower down his toned body.

“You’ve waited this long…” the android draws, running his tongue closer and closer but always out of reach.

“Phckin’ phck, for the love of god, just…” he trails off.

Nines breath ghosts over his abdomen. “You’re going to have to ask nicely to get what you want.”

A pregnant pause fills the air before Gavin blurts out, “What, _please suck my dick_? It’s not that hard,” his laugh is cut short as Nines’ tongue traces roughly around his cock, cheek brushing against it as he salivates all over the detective’s abs. “Oh phck you,” he breathes out, strained as his body begs for more friction.

“When I said ask nicely,” Nines mouths sloppy kisses around Gavin’s cock, “I meant beg.”

There’s a pause where Nines can tell he’s thinking over his options, but he knows he’s already won Gavin over. Instead of waiting, he licks a fat stripe from his inner thigh to the skin just outside of reach. He knows he’s right when Gavin can’t take the tension anymore and breaks into little ‘ _please, please, please_ ’s, pulling his knees into Nines’ sides and tugging him forward.

“Please what?”

“Please – oh for the love of god please – please, sir,” he whines, eyes scrunched as he begs to feel Nines against him.

“Good boy,” Nines breathes out as he runs his flat tongue up the detective’s cock.

“Oh phck, oh phck,” fills the room over and over as Nines takes his time swiping his tongue and running his lips over Gavin’s cock, little kisses like electric shock. He swirls his tongue around the head slowly, sensually, dragging out every second.

His movements are interrupted by the detective and his stilled responses. “Wait, okay, real quick, is it like a _vacuum_ in there?” 

Nines peels off Gavin to send him a pointed glare. “That’s really what you’re worried about right now?”

“I was just curious!” 

Nines rolls his eyes and climbs off the bed, stripping his boxers and tossing them to the floor. “I was built with the intention of mass murder in a millisecond,” he sighs as he climbs back onto the bed, settling once again between Gavin’s thighs, this time his hands are placed by the detective’s torso. “I came fully equipped to take down any human. You just happen to be the easiest.”

“Ha, _fully equipped_. Hey-” his rebuttal is cut short with a quick breath as Nines takes his cock fully into his mouth. Once he stills, Nines moves his tongue in short circular motions, pulling off a bit to focus on the head of his cock. He glances up at Gavin’s face and finds him looking starstruck, eyes half-lidded as he takes in the sight on top of him. Nines hums from his position, satisfied, before he starts in on his cock once again. He starts slowly, curling his tongue as he moves up and down the length, memorizing every inch of the man beneath him before he picks up his pace. He bobs his head, sucking and pulling on Gavin’s cock before releasing and taking in more as the detective’s moans fill the heated air.

He pulls off, and Gavin’s head snaps up from its arch position, a confused look on his face. Nines places his fingers into his own mouth, slicking them up sloppily as he watches the detective’s eyes dilate further than ever before. He smirks before returning his mouth to the head of Gavin’s cock, and this time places his slicked hand on the base. The detective’s breath hitches and Nines runs his tongue down the shaft before coming back to the top and slipping down to his hand. He pauses, giving Gavin time to squirm and attempt to buck into his mouth before pulling up and twisting his hand at the same time.

The splitting groan that reverberates around the room and the hands that dig into his scalp and pull on his hair tell Nines he’s doing everything right. He pulls off, slowly tugging his hand up Gavin’s cock and sits forward, placing his other hand into the detective’s needy mouth. He sighs as Gavin twirls his tongue over his fingers, eyes closed blissfully as he wets them thoroughly. Nines removes his fingers, a string of saliva following them before Gavin licks his lips. The android lunges forward, recapturing Gavin’s lips between his own as he picks up the pace, his other hand trailing down beneath his cock.

“Wait,” Gavin forces out between heavy breaths against Nines’ mouth when he breaks them apart. “The side table, second drawer. Lube.”

Nines raises an eyebrow as he surveys the man beneath him. “I don’t think you realize I just wanted to feel your mouth around my fingers.” He holds up the same hand, now rubbing a glistening substance between his fingers and thumb. “Self-lubricating, babe.”

“Wow,” Gavin looks between the hand and Nines’ face. “That’s really phckin’ hot-” His statement is cut short by Nines as he places their lips together once again, swiping his tongue into the detective’s mouth and lining the tips of his fingers against Gavin’s hole. He braces slowly, kissing lazily and stroking his other hand leisurely while he teases him open. The detective’s breath hitches again as Nines breaches a finger, then a second, taking his time to glide in and out, pushing further as Gavin relaxes beneath him. 

The detective grows impatient, whining into the android’s mouth at the slow pace. “Please, for the love of god, hurry up and just phck the shit out of me already,” he breathes across Nines’ mouth where their foreheads touch. The android just smirks before pushing his fingers all the way to the hilt and curling them against Gavin’s prostate. His whole body tenses under the pressure, ‘ _oh phck_ ’s whispered over and over as Nines slowly opens him up. “I can’t – phck – I just, I need to phckin’ feel you,” Gavin begs, eyes closed as he tugs on Nines’ hair and pulls his knees up against the android’s torso. A small laugh escapes Nines’ lips as he pulls out of the detective, leaning back to run a hand over his own cock and admire the man below him. He moves to line himself up but is stopped by a hand on his chest. “Wait.”

Nines hums, tilting his head. “You okay?”

Gavin looks up at him sheepishly before he makes up his mind. “Let me ride you,” he asks, looking up through his eye lashes. “Please. V’wanted to do it since I first saw you,” he laughs out, a blush rising to his cheeks that isn’t from the heat.

“Hmm,” Nines brings a hand up to his chin, pretending to consider the offer before a grin breaks his face. Gavin doesn’t have time to react before the android flips him on top.

“Wow, _phck_ ,” he says, dazed before he recaptures Nines’ mouth on his own. He pushes back against Nines’ cock, feeling the heat between his legs as he grinds against the android. He trails a hand down to Nines’ shaft, a small ‘ _phck_ ’ whispered on his lips as he takes in the length.

“If it’s going to be too much, we can just-”

“What, you think because you have a big dick, I can’t handle you?”

“That’s not what I – oh fuck,” Nines breathes out as Gavin lowers himself onto his cock. The detective moves both of his hands to either side of Nines’ head, breaths shared as he bottoms out.

A smirk takes over Gavin’s face. “Now _that’s_ more like it.” Nines’ head is thrown back against the pillows, face flushed from the onset of emotions and errors taking over his body. The detective picks up his hips and slowly lowers them back down, feeling him out. “I think,” he breathes over Nines’ mouth, “this is the first time I’ve seen you speechless.” He finishes with a laugh.

“That’s,” a heated, heavy breath, “not true, I-” Nines is drowned out by his own groan as Gavin picks up his hips and slams them back down against his cock. Errors pop up in his vision, overheating, too stimulated, high pressure, LED a constant blaring red, all ignored as the detective picks up his pace. He opens his eyes to find Gavin’s, a blissed-out look on his face meets the sweat forming on the other’s forehead. He looks beautiful, Nines thinks. Scars out and apparent, bruises on his abdomen. Perfect.

He digs his heels into the mattress, thrusting up into the detective as their moans meld together, picking up the pace as he can feel Gavin approaching his climax. “Phck, Phck, I’m gonna-” he forces out, eyes clenched shut as he thrusts back.

Nines grips the detective’s hip with one hand, controlling the increased pace and strokes his cock with the other, twisting and thrusting harder, faster, as Gavin’s movements stutter, his hips jerking as he tries to keep up. The detective opens his eyes, meeting Nines’ as the android whispers, “Come for me.”

He feels Gavin clenching as he spills over, foreheads touching as they breathe heavy against one another. The detective continues to rock slowly, still poised on Nines’ cock, the android’s hand moving to stroke the last of it out of him. “Phck.”

He looks blissed out, skin glistening with sweat as he leans back. The sunlight through the window illuminates him as he brushes his hair out of his face before glancing back down at Nines. “You look beautiful like that.”

“What?” Gavin tilts his head, red flushing his cheeks once again before looking away. Much like a few days ago, Nines bucks his hips forward and to the side, flipping the detective onto his back.

“Hey,” he says softly, using a finger to tilt Gavin’s chin to face him. “I mean it.” The detective searches his face, eyes darting between the android’s as he contemplates something in his head. There’s a moment where neither of them breathe, released only by the slightest nod from Gavin. It’s the permission Nines’ has been waiting for. He leans forward, eyes searching the detective’s face for any sign of backing out, and when he finds none, he meets Gavin’s lips with his own. 

It’s softer this time, gentle, less urgent and full of something neither of them know how to say out loud. Nines thrusts lazily, sloppily into Gavin, who wraps his legs around the android despite still recovering. The heat between them builds, the kisses hotter and more desperate, needy, as Gavin cups Nines’ face, breaking their kiss to look into his eyes. He trails the hand down Nine’s throat, thumb grazing his adam’s apple before reaching for his back, the other gripping at his hair. 

The android picks up the pace, pulling Gavin’s legs from around him to his shoulders, slamming his hips hilt-deep into the detective. He grazes Gavin’s prostate, earning him a guttural moan from the man below him. He digs his nails into Nines’ back, clawing angry marks that neither of them bother to check. It’s fast, hot, heavy, as they sweat into each other, desperate noises filling the air between breaths. Nines moves his head down to Gavin’s jaw, kissing down his neck with each fast-paced thrust. He latches onto the skin just above the clavicle, sucking a bruise onto his neck, the pain turning the detective on even more.

He’s close, Nines can feel the way Gavin’s body clenches against him as he edges them closer. The android moves from the bruise on his neck to Gavin’s pert nipples, taking one into his mouth, sucking and tugging before flicking his tongue over it, earning him a groan with each movement. The detective’s breath hitches, and Nines picks up his pace, slamming into him relentlessly. A full-body orgasm rips through Gavin with a final cry, Nines succumbs to the tight clenching and spills into him, thrusts slowing as their foreheads melt together. 

The air between them is heavy, heated, full of something they don’t know how to say. He waits, then pulls out of Gavin slowly, watching his expression to make sure there’s no pain. Satisfied, he leaves the bed to get the towel from the detective’s shower, wiping himself off before climbing onto the bed and returning to Gavin’s side. He wipes gently, the closed-eyed, blissed out expression on Gavin’s face never wavering. Nines plants small kisses on the bruises on his abdomen, silently wishing a fast heal, before moving up his body to his neck.

“Now this,” Nines says coyly, mouthing at his throat, “is a hickey that looks like my mouth.”

“Oh god, not this again,” the detective laughs, bracing an arm over his eyes to block out the sun, or maybe avoid the conversation. Smiling, Nines hops off the bed to place the soiled towel in the hamper across the room. “Wait.” The android pauses, holding his hand midair. Gavin swallows like he has something troubling to say. Nines turns, giving him his full attention.

He takes a big breath. “Stay. Please.”

Oh. It looked like he was getting ready to leave. He continues his movement to the blinds, drawing them to get the sun out of Gavin’s face. He returns to the bed, this time climbing behind Gavin and placing his hand across his torso. He places small kisses onto the detective’s shoulder, down to his neck.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

The last thing he sees before stasis is the smile playing on Gavin’s lips as he too slips into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for joining me on this journey of writing my first fic and your continued support - you guys really pushed me to finish this with a flourish. I have so many ideas for future fics, so please be sure to stay tuned for new works. You can find me on tumblr @ unsolvedsexualtension and I'm always available if you want to chat or have requests. Thank you once again, and I hope to see you again soon!


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